Death after Dessert
by See Sell
Summary: AU: Death note murder mystery. When Raito is convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Soichiro begs for L's help to prove his son's innocence. Eventual L/Raito
1. Prologue: a verdict and a plea

A/N: OK, I was reading Translucent Darkness' Whodunnit (which is very clever – go read it) and decided to write my own, although rest assured I have stolen neither plot nor style. If anything this is written like an Agatha Christie murder mystery – or at least I hope so. Except with L.

Summary: after Yagami Soichiro begs L to find some new evidence to overturn his son's recent murder conviction, L begins to realise perhaps the truth wasn't as clear as it seemed.

Warnings: AU (and no death note), OOC-ness, possible shounen-ai in later chapters, random pairings. I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but I might end up giving something away, and half the fun of murder mysteries is guessing who the killer is.

Disclaimer: completely not mine.

* * *

The jury were filing back in. Normally when this happened, Yagami Raito thought something along the lines of 'oh finally they've made their minds up, what possibly could have been taking so long.'

Of course, sitting in the dock gave him an entirely new perspective.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?" the judge asked, voice heavy with traditional formality.

The foreman stood. "We have My Lady(1)."

"Will the defendant please rise." Raito stood, refusing to allow himself to tremble despite the nerves that were wracking his body, resulting in all too tangible quivers.

He couldn't look at the jury, he realised. He didn't want to see any indication of the verdict. It would make him break down. Raito's clever brown eyes focused instead on the red robed judge in front of him, as she indicated for the foreman to deliver the verdict.

"We find the defendant," a pause, as always, Raito thought as his heart beat even faster, "Guilty."

And with that one word, Raito's world gave way.

The courtroom was in uproar. As two armed policemen came to handcuff him, Raito's eyes found his father's, wide in disbelieving horror. He quickly looked away, only to see Sayu, crying bitterly. The policemen roughly frog marched him out of the courtroom, towards the bullet proof van which would take him back to prison for god only knew how long. In a mad moment, Raito almost wanted to laugh – they hadn't sentenced him yet. What a joke, everyone knew he'd get life, why did he have to come back to hear someone actually tell him?

He turned around or one last look at the people gathered in the courtroom, and then instantly wished he hadn't. Mello was staring at him with bloody satisfaction written all over his face.

Well, it was only to be expected. He had just been convicted of murdering Mello's cousin(2), after all.

Once they exited the building Raito tried to ignore the countless flashes of seemingly endless cameras, and walked with as much dignity as he could muster. It wasn't until he was securely locked inside the van – and finally (_finally)_ left alone – that the newly convicted murderer broke down at the sheer injustice of it all.

* * *

_(3 days later)_

Boredom wasn't something that the best – best three, actually, if you wanted to be technical – detectives in the world should feel. However, after the L.A. BB case L Lawliet was feeling more and more at a loss. It seemed that nothing interesting enough for the capricious investigator was happening anywhere in the world, end of. Perhaps, he smirked darkly (over his banana split with extra chocolate sauce) B had spoiled him. Chasing the genius had been all but impossible, but incredibly entertaining at the same time. Not to mention satisfying when he was finally apprehended.

Knock knock.

The door opened before he could reply, and his new assistant shuffled in. "Anything interesting come up," L turned to look at him hopefully.

Near twirled a lock of hair around his finger thoughtfully. "Soichiro Yagami of the NPA is on the line, Sir."

L nodded, although he knew what this would be about. It was impossible to miss the most high profile case of the decade, culminating yesterday with Raito Yagami being sentenced to life in prison (minimum sentence twenty years) for the murder of his girlfriend, the supermodel Misa Amane. And the British government had denied his plea to be extradited back to Japan.

L knew very little of Raito Yagami, but Soichiro and the entire NPA had been very helpful about five years ago, while he was solving a case in Japan. In fact, it could almost be said that he owed them a favour – several favours in fact.

That said, he easily could have refused to speak with Soichiro. But he was so very very bored….

"Hello," L said, clicking the voice-coding thing he always used whilst holding the phone in a quite inimitable way. Near was surprised the muscles in his hand were so strong that he could hold the rather chunky device (it had special features) with only two fingers.

"L," came Soichiro's familiar voice. "You must know why I'm ringing."

"Hai," he replied, reverting to Soichiro's more familiar Japanese. "I've seen the newspapers."

"L…," Soichiro paused. He was a proud man, L knew, and did not like asking for help, or even _admitting_ that he needed help. Especially in a matter such as this. "I want you to see if there was any evidence missed by the British police that could clear Raito."

"He's going to appeal."

On the other end of the phone, Soichiro spluttered, "Of course he's going to appeal, he's innocent!" L wasn't so sure; the evidence against Raito was damning. Almost too damning…

"I'll look into it, Yagami-san. Although you must accept there is at least a 92.3 percent possibility that your son is guilty as charged." L did not feel he needed to add 'in which case there's nothing I can do' when talking to a police chief as esteemed as Yagami Soichiro. He heard it regardless.

"I understand. Thank you, thank you L."

After hanging up, L wondered why on earth he'd agreed to that. This was sensationalist tabloid journalism not the ten-bodies-and-counting serial murder cases he usually dealt with. He closed his eyes and counted to five.

"Near!" He called, once he felt slightly calmer. "I need all the data available – coroners' reports, witness statements, the lot – on the Yagami case."

* * *

Well, there's the prologue done. Next chapter (in which we actually learn something about the case) should be up quite soon, and should be longer. My exams are over and I really have no excuse for not writing. Anyway, please review. I may actually update if you do. Criticism is very much encouraged and appreciated (although if you wish to say unconditionally nice things please do!). Also, would anyone volunteer to be my beta? I'm a scientist more than a writer so there tend to be many mistakes.

(1)This is set in Britain, therefore there's a British court and the judge is addressed as My Lady

(2)Yes Mello is Misa's cousin in this. They're both blonde. Go figure.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: still don't own. If I do somehow end up acquiring Death Note rest assured this will be the first place I proclaim it. But don't hold your breath.

* * *

The problem with such a high profile case, Near decided as he listlessly trawled through an enormous pile of paper, was that everyone appeared to have something to say about it. In fact, Near doubted that there was a single newspaper in the whole of the UK that hadn't reported on this story at least once a week since the case came to light. Which made for a whole lot of reading. And the fact that over eighty percent of it was just utter tabloid trash did nothing to make him feel even slightly more motivated.

Meanwhile, L had hacked into the case reports on New Scotland Yard's database. Bored, Near slouched over and stood behind him, looking at the screen over his shoulder. It showed a blonde woman (Near recognized Amane) in a black silk dressing gown lying crookedly at the foot of some stairs. She would have been beautiful, he thought, apart from numerous abrasions and the way that her head was lying at a funny angle.

L's policy: start with the victim. The body itself is the biggest clue.

_Name: Misa Amane _

_Age: 25_

_Height: 165 cm _

_Body found at the bottom of a flight of stairs, in Matt Jeevas' house at 0330 on 05/02/08 by her cousin Mello Keehl _

_Estimated time of death: around one hour earlier, so between 0200 and 0245_

_Primary cause of death: broken neck most likely induced by fall down stairs. Numerous contusions found support this theory. Also had a skull fracture caused by assault with a heavy, metal object, and this impact caused the victim's fall. Ornament matching this description found at the top of the stairs with the victim's blood on it, plus Raito Yagami's fingerprints and DNA._

"That alone was probably enough to convict him," Near commented. L, typically, ignored him ; enormous eyes focussing solely on the computer screen in front of him as he scrolled down.

Victim heard arguing with Yagami at approximately 0100. Yagami admits to this, but denies murder.

Others present: Mello Keehl, Matt Jeevas, Kiyomi Takada-Jeevas, Sayu Yagami, Raye Penber, Naomi Misora, Teru Mikami. (All apart from Mikami have an alibi).

"Near," L said sharply, "What do we know about these people?"

Near had anticipated the question, and picked up a piece of paper. "Mello Keehl: 22 years old, Amane's cousin. Up-and coming-actor, has had parts in many TV shows including 'Clarity Faded' and 'Alliances'."

"Ah yes, I remember him from 'Alliances'. He was the librarian." L paused. "A very talented actor."

"In his statement he says that he was with Sayu Yagami at the time the murder was committed." Well, he's young, thought L, and Sayu was also extremely pretty. "On returning to his room he 'noticed something strange and lumpy lying in his way, and realised it was his cousin'." Near's grey eyes met L's black ones, "Apparently he was very distraught. He did inherit half of Amane's fortune though. The other half was left to Yagami."

"Did Keehl move the body at all?" L asked

Near paused to flick through his notes. "He said he didn't touch anything." Again a silence, both of them thinking the same thing: if you came across a body – particularly one of someone you knew and loved – wouldn't your first instinct be to try and revive the person? Shake them or something?

"And next?" L prompted, between mouthfuls of cake.

Although he knew he was too pale to blush, Near felt his cheeks grow warm. "Matt Jeevas," he started hurriedly. "25 years old, owner of the house they were in and multimillionaire designer of the 'Death Note' video game. Informed the police that he was with his wife Kiyomi from the time they went to bed, until 'Mello's screaming woke me up'."

"Relationship to victim?"

L had obviously not heard the expression 'patience is a virtue.'

"Amane was friends with his wife." Near didn't wait for a prompt this time, "They'd known each other for several years, whilst Kiyomi was still living in Japan, before she moved to the UK to become a news anchor. Amane was even a bridesmaid at her wedding. And she was with her husband when Amane was murdered."

"As in they were both asleep at the time," L verified.

Silence.

"Sayu Yagami," Near continued monotonously, "is a 21 year old medical student at Tokyo University. She came to England with her brother for a holiday to celebrate her excellent exam results. Apparently she liked Amane, whom she looked up to like an elder sister. She was with Keehl up until Keehl found the body.

Still no reaction from L, who now seemed far more entertained by his cake than the case. Evidently he'd found nothing of interest to comment on. Although, Near decided, it must be frustrating to find that several of your suspects had seemingly watertight alibis.

He ploughed on, "Naomi Misora," he started, and then stopped immediately. L had finally looked up, dark eyes glinting like cut onyx.

"Naomi Misora." L repeated wonderingly. Near nodded in reply. "Naomi Misora is an FBI agent of the highest calibre who worked on the LA BB serial killer case with me. So how is she connected to this?"

"Her partner, Raye Penber, went to university with Matt Jeevas. She attended this gathering as his guest."

"Penber is a field operative for MI5," L informed him. "Coincidence, is it, that two agents from two different countries just happened to be present at the murder of an international celebrity?"

Near didn't think L wanted a reply for he was once again engrossed in cake.

"Finally, Teru Mikami was also there. He's a prosecutor who met Jeevas while investigating him on charges of criminal negligence related to the injury of one of his employers."

"Why were the charges brought forward?"

"A games tester wanted compensation for a 'work related upper limb disorder' (formerly known as an RSI) developed by overplaying Death Note." Near read L's next question clearly, "After the case was dropped Mikami formed a friendship with Jeevas. He had never met Amane before, although he had obviously heard of her, and says he was in bed, asleep when she was killed."

"Was he ever under suspicion?" L asked, clearly questioning Mikami's lack of an alibi. "No, of course not," he answered himself, "The lack of an alibi is purely circumstantial and considering the absence of a motive or forensic evidence…

"Is there any possibility that anyone else could have entered the house that evening?" L questioned.

Near paused, thinking. "It's highly unlikely. There was no sign of forced entry at all, and no one with a spare key, and who knew Amane would be there, lives in the immediate vicinity."

"So, yes, in other words."

The white haired man considered this, fiddling with his hair once again, "Yes," he decided.

L stood up sharply from his unusual seating position Near was only now beginning to get used to. "Make a phone call to Woodhill prison, and inform them that I want to schedule an interview with Raito Yagami for four o'clock this afternoon."

"On second thoughts don't," L decided two minutes later, just as Near had found the phone number. "I'll just go."

* * *

To visit a prisoner in Woodhill, just outside of Milton Keynes in northern Buckinghamshire, you needed to either ring up or email in advance, depending on whether it was a social or official call. You were also required to bring identification such as a valid passport or driving license that unequivocally proved that you were who you said you were.

L, of course, by sheer virtue of being L, merely turned up at the prison gates unannounced, outside formal visiting hours and demanded to speak with the governor on a matter of some urgency. Twenty minutes later he was sitting in a private room waiting for Yagami Raito to be escorted in.

There really were perks to having the entire penal system of practically every country in your pocket.

A burly prison warden walked in behind a slight young man dressed in a lurid orange jumpsuit. Besides motioning for the inmate to sit, L completely ignored him.

"Leave us!" he barked at the warden.

The warden nodded; although the governor hadn't mentioned a name (or an alias) he had some idea of just how important this slovenly stranger actually was. "I'll have to lock you in," he said.

"I'd expect you to," the detective replied flatly, dismissing him.

L then turned to look at Yagami Raito for the first time.

He was a handsome young man, with soft auburn hair and large brown eyes, which hinted at both pride and intelligence. The stress of the past few months could be seen in the anxious set of his mouth, and the frown lines on his forehead but otherwise he looked relatively all right after his first week as a convicted murderer. Although the bags under his eyes did indicate that he hadn't been getting an awful amount of sleep, and L would bet money that that wasn't because of a continuous overload of sugar.

Raito was also examining his unexpected visitor. He really did look wild with that untamed and untameable mane of black hair. That and the worn, unflattering clothing said that he didn't really care what he looked like. And the sitting position! Surely sitting like that did nothing for the circulation, and it couldn't have been too easy to balance like that. Those wide jet eyes gave him a rather ingenuous appearance but Raito could see shrewdness and a real mind in those inky depths.

"Yagami-kun, I need to ask you a few questions."

Raito stared. The sentence itself was totally ordinary. What was less ordinary was the perfect Japanese the skinny stranger spoke.

"About the case." It wasn't a question. "Who are you?"

"Your father asked me to find some new evidence that could overturn your conviction. He still believes you're innocent."

"Do you?" the visitor had dodged the question, Raito realised, but it was a good dodge. He'd allow it for the time being.

The thumb that had been entertaining some very white teeth was slammed down on the table between them in a businesslike way.

"From the past thirteen seconds' conversation and everything I have ever read or heard I believe that Yagami-kun has an exceptionally sharp mind, lots of pride and a keen sense of justice. However I also believe that he is scheming and arrogant." That heavy black stare became even more intense. "I think that he could bring himself to commit murder for some reasons." Raito blanched at this, despite keeping up a stony silence. "The murder of Amane Misa, however, seems opportunistic and brutal, so no, I do not believe that Yagami-kun is guilty as charged. This sort of crime does not seem quite your style."

After this there was silence to allow Raito to process his thoughts. His father didn't believe he was a murderer – that was a relief – and had not abandoned him, but rather had entrusted any possibility of his freedom to a very very strange stranger, who after exchanging all of twenty words of him had come to a conclusion that twelve ordinary members of the public wouldn't reach. That he was innocent. Innocent. He was beginning to forget just how that felt.

"Well you never know," Raito smirked once he regained control of his facial features, "Maybe that was just what I wanted you to think."

"And obviously that was a very well thought out plan which allowed you to achieve everything you wished," was the flat, unamused reply.

Raito almost laughed at that. It was the first time he'd even come close since the trial began. "Who are you?" he choked out.

The stranger's black eyes seemed to crinkle upwards in a smile. "L" he replied.

* * *

Well there you have it; next chapter is up. I hope it was OK. Woodhill prison actually exists by the way in case you didn't know, and the visiting restrictions are also accurate. An RSI (or repetitive strain injury) can be referred to as a work related upper limb disorder. Seems a bit ridiculous – what if it develops in your foot? The TV shows Mello stars in are, however, fictional. I just fell in love with the idea of Mello as a librarian. Sort of like, now what job would Mello never ever do…

So now the suspects are introduced, well sort of. They will be properly met in the next chapter. If you want to leave any theories on who the killer(s) is (are) then please do, _providing that a motive also given_. Although I won't confirm anything yet, OK? Because spoilers are called spoilers for a reason.

Please review; thank you, thank you to everyone who did review: MiaoShou, saku-enjie, Shadow-L-Chan, Akito-Aya and Great Aunt Florence. You motivated me a lot, really. And the more reviews I get the faster (and more) I write. Criticism is still (as ever) appreciated, as it's probably better that I learn and change rather than I continue as I always have, silently torturing the masses!!

Finally, an enormous thank-you to Akito-Aya who beta'd this incredibly quickly and really did an absolutely excellent job.


	3. Chapter 2

On Saturday, while I was babysitting I watched Agatha Christie's 'Death on the Nile.' It is quite possibly the cleverest detective ever written. Absolutely impossible to guess but all the clues are there. If you don't know Agatha Christie's books or the excellent TV adaptations, well, then, you should.

So here we are, chapter number three. Wow who'd've thunk it? Sorry for the delay: this is slow up for two reasons. Firstly because putting everything needed in is hard and secondly because Wimbledon (tennis) was on and Oh My God it was addictive! Nadal won and he deserved it, I think. Although it would have been nice for Federer to get six in a row…

Umm, yes, quite a few people commented that L was not being very L-like in actually meeting Raito, and really they are right. My mistake. There is a reason for L's lack of paranoia given in this chapter, but it's more of an excuse on my behalf. Sorry.

Also, some others are wondering about Watari in this story (or lack thereof). He was going to be Matt's butler but then I couldn't work out an alibi for him so that idea got scrapped. He might be in this later. For the meantime, Near is L's assistant.

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine.

* * *

Raito was shocked. That this – this weirdo – was the most celebrated detective the world had ever seen, it defied belief, it really was impossible. He blinked; no, it really was impossible.

"I don't believe you." Raito stated. L raised an eyebrow. "Why would L come to a high-security prison where he must have been responsible for putting at least some of the people in here away?" He thought about it some more. "Actually, L doesn't go anywhere, ever. So why on earth would he come here to visit me?"

"Yes, it does seem risky, doesn't it Yagami-kun?" L looked down, and started to fiddle with his nails. "Although, Yagami-kun has considered, of course, that the only person I am speaking with and telling my identity to is himself. If he is guilty as convicted he will be in no position to do anything to me. If he is innocent, however, I predict that there is a ninety-seven percent chance that he will feel far too indebted to me to wish me any harm."

No, Raito hadn't considered any of that. Imprisonment must have been affecting him worse than he'd thought.

"However, all of that is irrelevant. Yagami-kun," L once again made eye contact with Raito (that dull black stare was becoming downright creepy), "I need you to tell me everything you remember about the night of the murder. No detail, no matter how small, can be left out."

Raito had expected this too; he'd told his story at least six times to god only knew how many people already. But this time was different, maybe, this time, this L person might just – _just_ – believe him…

* * *

_(4__th__ February 2008)_

The invitation to visit Takada (it was impossible for Raito to think of her as having any other name despite her marriage) and Matt had come as an email dated 02/02/08.

_Misa,_

_Considering that you're in London for a photo-shoot, why not come down and stay with Matt and I for a couple of days down in Winchester? Raito and his sister can come too, of course, and it really would be great to see all of you again. Matt is inviting his own guests from Monday to Wednesday of next week so if you come down then we can have our own little party._

_Anyway, I really hope you can make it,_

_Kiyomi _

_xxx_

Was it just Raito or had Takada become much more bubbly after leaving Japan? Misa happily agreed to visit, after all she hadn't seen her best friend in ages and discovering that her cousin would be there as one of Matt's guests was just a sweetener. Which of course meant that Raito had to go along too. Joy.

Still, getting there had gone without a hitch. Evidently the rental car had fooled the paparazzi that had been camped outside their hotel for the duration of their stay, and the car's SatNav had easily directed them from the London hotel to the Jeevas' country home. Misa had thankfully spent most of the journey speaking with Sayu, helping his sister to practice her admittedly rather shaky English.

Sayu gaped as Raito pulled up to the gates of what appeared to be an enormous Georgian style mansion. "Why would they ever spend most of their time in London when they have this?" she asked, amazed at just how opulent it was.

"Because Takada is a news anchor so has to be in London practically every night. It's also where Matt's headquarters are based."

Sayu scowled, "Yeah, yeah," she muttered. Evidently members of the Yagami family weren't very good at graciously admitting that they were wrong.

Raito pulled up the drive. Misa immediately jumped out the car and rang the doorbell with all the giddy exuberance of a six-year-old on Christmas Day, he thought uncharitably. A young woman answered it. Raito recognised Takada immediately, she was older now, but still had that same unmistakable poise and refined beauty she'd been renowned for when they were both at university together. She was smiling widely, showing very white, even teeth, as she gestured for them all to come in. Raito was only too pleased to comply; the weather was good for an English February but it was still very cold.

In the hall they were greeted almost shyly by a slender, red haired man. Despite his notorious hatred of cameras and almost obsessive need for privacy, it was easy to recognise Matt Jeevas. The professional gamer had done several interviews over the years since Death Note had gone mainstream (and then some) including the one – if Raito remembered correctly and he always did – where he'd met his wife.

"Raito, right?" Matt asked casually as he shook Raito's hand. "I remember Misa from the wedding but I don't think we've met before."

Raito shook his head, smiling. "No, we haven't but it's…" A door slammed, cutting him off.

"Hey have they arrived yet?" came an irate voice from behind him. Raito turned, meeting a pair of sharp, angry blue eyes.

Oh dear. And here was the reason why Raito had so desperately wanted to show up 'fashionably late' to this little get-together. He and Misa's cousin had never quite seen eye-to-eye. Evidently time hadn't changed that.

Mello glared at him for all of five seconds before throwing himself on Misa and then kissing Sayu on the cheek. Internally Raito glowered; he did not like seeing some blonde, leather-wearing pretty boy 'trying it on' with his baby sister.

Instead he turned to Takada, "So is everyone else here yet?"

"Not quite," she replied, "We're still waiting for Teru."

Teru? Raito wondered. Not someone he knew. "He's a prosecutor," Takada filled him in with a smile, anticipating his next question. "Very clever – I expect you two will get on like a house on fire."

That's what Misa had said when he'd been introduced to Mello. Well, apart from the prosecutor part.

Matt led them all into the sitting room, where a man and a woman were sitting on a sofa deep in conversation. He introduced Raye Penber and Naomi Misora without any preamble.

Naomi smiled at Misa, "A face like that needs no introduction at all," she said. Yes, thought Raito, keep her entertained. Please. Misa reacted typically enough, with embarrassed giggles and blushes but any idiot could see that she was enjoying the attention.

"Mr Penber," Misa asked, once they were all better acquainted, "What's that rip on your sleeve?" She had noticed – for someone whose empathy skills were practically nil she had surprisingly acute eyesight – that Penber's dinner jacket did indeed have a slight tear in it at the wrist.

Penber laughed, edgily maybe, "Oh, that, I don't know. Probably the cat."

"Oh, but Misa loves cats, why…" Misa continued to babble on about various furry pets she'd had over the years. Raito stopped listening.

The small talk continued, pleasant and insipid as always, for approximately an hour, when a knock at the door interrupted them.

"Excuse me, I'll get that," Matt said hurriedly. A couple of minutes later he returned to the sitting room accompanied by a handsome, youngish man with shoulder length dark hair and glasses, who was introduced to them as Mikami Teru. Raito saw Mello move – almost flinch – out of the corner of his eye. Was it possible, did the actor look worried or even – dare he think it, this was _Mello_ after all – scared? Or was it simply his imagination and the dim light?

"Excellent," Takada's light voice jerked him back to reality. "Now that you're all here we can show you where you'll be sleeping."

* * *

"You know, you might consider installing a lift(1)," grumbled Mello as they all climbed the rather narrow staircase to the second floor laden down with heavy overnight bags. Matt laughed at that, possibly because he was only carrying Sayu's light luggage.

"Ooh," Misa let out a squeal of delight once they reached the second floor landing. She had noticed a table covered in all sorts of things, all of which glittered.

"You like it?" Matt said, obviously pleased. Well, Misa might be an idiot Raito thought (as he hoisted her impossibly heavy bags over to what had enthralled her), but she was an international celebrity so perhaps Jeevas thought her opinion did count for something. "I use it when I'm trying to work out new scenarios for games."

"What, you pretend it's some fantasy landscape full of dragons, do you?" Mello mocked." Matt smiled indulgently at him.

"Ooh, Raito, look at this one!" Misa exclaimed, cutting off any reply Matt may have had. She all but thrust a heavy, silver ornament into his hands. It reminded Raito more of one of the towers of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia than anything else. He supposed it was pretty, in a useless sort of way.

"Yeah, yeah it's nice we know, can we please please _please_ just dump our stuff now?" Honestly, what had Mello brought with him that was so heavy? After all, leather, rosaries and condoms couldn't possibly weigh all that much. Certainly not enough to make him say 'please', let alone three times.

Takada, standing behind them, directed them into their allocated rooms, and gave them an hour to prepare themselves for dinner. She and Matt then returned to the first floor and their own room to get ready.

* * *

"Raito, does Misa look all right?" Raito turned to look at her. To be fair – which he wasn't at the moment regarding Misa – she really did look beautiful in a light blue, spaghetti strapped silk dress with a navy wrap thrown over her shoulders.

"Yes."

Misa evidently took this to mean 'no' and returned to the mirror while Raito adjusted his tie. "Misa, why don't you go help Takada get dinner ready."

She agreed quickly, which surprised him. Maybe she'd been noticing the strains in their relationship too. It almost surprised him to realise he didn't know what she thought anymore.

Dinner was served with Takada's usual efficiency (Parma ham and melon followed by poached salmon with chocolate gateau for dessert and cheese and biscuits for those who want). Raito found himself talking seriously with Teru Mikami. They both worked in law enforcement, so they had that much in common. Although Mikami did appear to know about his brief stint on the catwalk during university. "Interesting career change: model to detective," he'd commented slyly, before Raito had quickly shifted the conversation towards cases the prosecutor had worked on.

Amused, Raito noticed just how many times his black-haired companion's gaze flickered to Takada, serene and lovely in a pale pink strapless dress with a white silk shawl over her shoulders. Well Raito couldn't exactly blame him, although he also noticed the many glances Mikami sent towards Matt, evidently wondering whether his host noticed him checking out his wife.

It was pretty safe to say that Matt had no idea, as he and Misa, meanwhile, were conversing between themselves, possibly about the dragonesque landscape Matt had created. It did seem almost like an interrogation; Misa appeared to be bombarding Matt with god only knew how many questions. He was looking progressively more and more uncomfortable.

Well, for the moment Raito was only happy that she was bothering someone else for a change. This feeling decreased when he saw that Sayu and Mello were chatting, laughing, and possibly even _flirting_! Naomi (pretty but inconspicuous in a black dress with elbow length gloves. Raito's fashion instincts hadn't died with his modelling career god no) appeared to be trying to join in the conversation, or was at least following it closely, but anyone could see that the two only had eyes for each other. Raito felt a flush of protective anger, followed by irritation towards Sayu. Honestly she knew what he thought of Mello, but no she would insist on being friends with him and possibly even… No, Raito wasn't going there.

"Yes it was, I can even show you the date in my diary," Sayu said, smiling; Raito just tuning into their conversation.

"I'm telling you it was later than that. December, just before my birthday."

"Would you excuse me for a minute," Naomi asked before hastily leaving 'to use the bathroom'. Quite clearly the couple's discussion on dates of last emails sent had driven her away. Raye Penber, who had been entertaining Takada, glanced up as she left, although otherwise no one appeared to notice.

When everyone had finished dessert, Matt cleared the dishes, Mello volunteering to help him. However, from the fervent quiet discussion in the other room it seemed that Mello (opportunistic as ever) had simply wanted to talk privately to his latest employer. Raito had heard from Misa that Mello was to star as Kira (an escaped schizophrenic mental health patient who murdered criminals) in the televised version of Death Note. Raito thought this role was well cast.

After dinner, they lingered in the sitting room, Takada bringing them all drinks and mints. The conversation was limited, everyone was feeling drowsy after such a large meal, and the classical music Matt had put on wasn't helping much. Takada then collected the dirty glasses and returned to the kitchen.

Crash!

"What was that?" asked Sayu, alarmed.

"Kiyomi! What just happened," Matt called.

Takada appeared at the door looking embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, I simply wasn't concentrating; I just dropped the tray with all the empty glasses on it."

Matt grinned. "Shall I help you clear it up?"

Takada shook her head; "I'll be fine. It will only take a minute to put it in the recycling."

"Well, at least let me get you a plastic bag to put it all in," Matt replied. Takada smiled and nodded. He left, muttering about wanting to leave all the dirties until the morning, but Raito wasn't really interested. Considering the bottle of wine that Takada had all but monopolised throughout dinner a little clumsiness wasn't surprising, but that didn't mean Misa wouldn't tease her (loudly) for it.

The red head returned a couple of minutes later, yawning widely. "Lord I'm tired. I think we should all turn in," another yawn, "About now." Everyone agreed.

In their room, Misa and Raito got ready for bed in silence, she because she was tired, he because he had nothing to say to her. Except he did, sort of, his conscience told him when the lights were out and they were lying side by side as they had done for nearly four years. It was unfair to string her along like this. Really she had to know.

Maybe it was the alcohol talking but he just blurted it out. Bad idea.

"What!" Misa exclaimed loudly, quickly turning to face Raito. "Raito, what are you saying, why?" her large brown eyes were filled with hurt and confusion.

"Look, can you keep it down. We don't want to wake everyone up." Raito tried appeasing her, "I'm sorry but, it's not something…"

"Don't you say that and then apologise!" Wrong thing to say apparently – Misa had crossed the line between mopey hurt victim complex and real anger. She jumped out of bed, pulled her favourite black silk dressing gown on over her short night-dress, not even bothering to flick out her long blonde hair or do it up she was so angry.

"Hey, where are you going?" Raito asked, sitting up as Misa pulled on a pair of black knee high boots.

"I don't know, I just, I can't stay here," Raito could tell she was serious when she dropped the stupid third person act, and stopped being so cutesy although her tone now was verging towards dangerously melodramatic hysteria. "Just give me the car keys."

"In those heels?" Misa wasn't Raito's favourite person but he'd hate for something awful to happen to her as a result of her stupidity.

"I don't fucking care!" Misa flared, sounding far more like Mello than her usual self. She then appeared to calm down, "You know what, don't bother, I'll just go for a walk. I need some time…time to think." It sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

Misa left, shutting the door quietly. He should go after her, he knew, but he just didn't have the energy to deal with one of her tantrums now.

Raito buried his face in his pillow, and tried to relax. No good, his head was whirring. Sleep would be impossible. Maybe he should try walking it off, but instead decided to get a glass of water from the bathroom. Sipping it, Raito did feel a little calmer. He lay back in the bed.

He blinked sleepily. Against all expectations, had he fallen asleep? What time was it? Where was Misa?

Sluggish thoughts didn't realise what he was hearing. Wait – was that screaming? Someone was yelling loudly, cries full of horror and panic. Was that Mello? Some idea of a joke? Raito stood up shakily and pulled on his dressing gown over his boxers, deciding to investigate.

A group of people – all the guests, clearly visible as the lights were all on were crowding around…something, he couldn't quite see, on the landing below the flight of stairs. He walked down the stairs and pushed past Naomi and Sayu (who didn't acknowledge him for some reason) to see what everyone was looking at.

"Oh. Oh God." Misa, lying sprawled on the floor right in front of him, eyes fixed and staring, her neck bent horribly, a great big dent in the side of her head, blood pooling from the wound onto the carpet below. Who…why…Raito, although now wide-awake couldn't think how this could have happened, who could have wanted to kill Misa?

"_You_!" Mello's blue eyes, filled with tears and hate and despair, latched onto Raito. Matt restrained the blonde as he struggled. "You killed her! How could you? She loved you! Get off me Matt I'll…I'll…" Matt softly stroked his hair, telling him gently to calm down, that it wouldn't help. He looked rather dazed and unsteady himself, as if he couldn't quite imagine the woman who had talked so enthusiastically with him earlier that night was lying dead in front of him.

"What's happened?" Takada asked as she arrived, voice controlled. She leant past Raito to see what was there. One look at her friend's body and her legs gave way, and she would have fallen had Mikami not caught her. Not that she noticed he was holding her – poise forgotten, she was sobbing uncontrollably.

Raito was beginning to panic. He was a detective after all; he knew what happened when you had a dead body, and a man with no alibi with a motive to kill.

"Hey everyone," Penber called from behind him, "I think I just found the murder weapon." He held up the silver Sagrada Familia like ornament Misa had admired so much, this time though it was visibly dented and had traces of blood on it. Blood which would doubtlessly be matched with Misa's.

Raito sunk to his knees as he realised that it was very likely that it still had his fingerprints on.

* * *

At the end of Raito's narration, L didn't comment and merely thanked him for his time before leaving. He shared no opinions (which he must have had Raito thought, this was _L_ after all). Raito felt slightly better after telling everything to the detective, simply through the act of unburdening himself, but some extra reassurance would not have been unwelcome.

What Raito didn't know was that, back in a London hotel, L was examining the transcript of Raito's conversation in detail with his assistant.

"So everyone saw Yagami pick up the murder weapon? And so knew his prints would be on it. Or at least was present when he did pick it up," Near mused aloud.

"When he says he did. No one made any mention in their statements as to having seen Raito-kun pick up the murder weapon before it was used as such," L pointed out between slurps of sickly sweet tea.

Near raised an eyebrow in slight surprise, "When exactly did Yagami become Raito-kun? And I thought you thought he was innocent."

L appeared to consider this. "Currently, there is an ninety two six percent chance that Raito-kun is innocent. However, this means that there is a seven point four percent chance that he is guilty. It seems foolish to rule it out entirely, even if it is based on my own observations."

That was fair enough Near decided. It wasn't until much later that he realised L hadn't answered his first question.

* * *

Firstly, a plea: can anyone tell me approximate term dates for universities in Japan? And when the academic year is? Please? It would be very helpful indeed if you could.

Hmm, this chapter certainly seems to contain an awful lot of padding. I hope it didn't get dull.

(1) Lift elevator

Thank you to everyone who reviewed: Paon, Shadow-L-Chan, sarahfreak, kyousuke21, Faye317, The Sacred Pandapuff (great name by the way), chrono-contact, MiaoShou, Serria, saku-enjie and X-BeTtEr-mE-SiLeNt-X. 11 reviews!! For what essentially was a second prologue! I was very flattered and pleased and did write faster (this was always going to be a really tough chapter and a logistical nightmare), so thank you!

Yeah, so please review this. And yes still there is a request for criticism. Plus any guesses/theories that you may have would be interesting (or possibly disheartening) to know. Next chapter: questioning. Should be fun.

So, any guesses?


	4. Chapter 3 Questioning Part 1

And then there was Chapter 3: Questioning Part 1.

Anyone expecting a solution now will be sadly disappointed I'm afraid. There is an awful lot of stuff that still has to come out, as it were, and not even L can solve a case with a third of the required information. Well, no actually, I don't know. Maybe he can.

Also, has anyone else done that Death Note personality quiz thing? I was L!! I was actually incredibly flattered (even if I was borderline with Near) and it made my day. Possibly I need to get out more.

Warnings: hints of L/Raito, if you squint.

Disclaimer: not mine, as ever.

* * *

"The next step," L droned in between mouthfuls of (overly sweetened) tea, "Is to question the people involved."

Near nodded – it seemed logical. "Are you going to do it over the laptop?" he asked, wondering about the logistics of such an operation.

L paused, great black eyes fixated on stirring (yet more) sugar cubes into his tea (evidently he'd decided the eight – _eight!_ – Near had put in were insufficient). "Only for Naomi Misora, as we have worked together in the past, and Raye Penber. However," and now that creepy black stare met Near's, "The others will be questioned by you."

By Near? Near who hated talking to anything that wasn't a toy, who believed that to be 'seen and not heard' was the best possible lifestyle and who, in all honesty, was a complete and utter misanthrope?

"All right." This was L. Why would he care about any of that?

* * *

"That's great! Everyone, twenty minute break while we set up for the next scene," the director called in a heavy Welsh accent. The cast scattered.

So here was Near, on the set of Death Note (The Television Series). A forged BBC ID had got him into the building without any problems. It was amazing, really. If he didn't know better he would honestly think that he was in some mental institution.

"Excuse me, Sir, can I help you?" Near was addressed by an officious looking young woman – probably some assistant director or someone judging by her clipboard – who was examining him rather suspiciously. It was probably the pyjamas. It usually was.

"Yes, I'm looking for Mello Keehl." Near then showed his ID – his real one, this time, with L's instantly recognisable world-renowned insignia on it.

Her eyes widened when she saw it and then she quickly scampered away. She returned a few moments later with a petit blonde young man, whose very regular features were delicate to the point of being pretty.

"Mr Keehl, Sir, this man…"

"Near," Near supplied. Two pairs of eyebrows went up.

"Yes, well anyway, this man wants to see you about something," she then all but ran from the white haired freak, leaving Near alone with the suspect.

"Oh yeah?" Mello's sky-blue eyes flicked disinterestedly to the human-sheep combo thing, noticing his notepad. "Who should I make it out to?"

Near hadn't been expecting that. Did he look like a fan? "I don't want an autograph Mr Keehl," he replied calmly, ignoring his initial surprise at the assumption, "I just want to ask you a few questions."

"Really?" A blonde eyebrow shot up. "You don't look like a journalist."

"I'm not, I wanted to ask you about the night your cousin died."

Mello's gaze hardened. "Why?" he asked through gritted teeth, tension in the atmosphere rising rapidly. "They've got the bastard that did it. That case is old news, just let Misa rest in peace why don't you? I think she fucking well deserves a bit of privacy!"

Well, thought Near, so far things weren't going exactly as planned what with Mello looking like all he really wanted to do was thump him.

"Mr Keehl, I represent L," Near tried randomly.

"L?" Mello's expression softened, becoming more curious than threatening. "Didn't know he was getting involved. Why is he?"

Somehow Near didn't think telling him that Raito's father had begged L for help would go down very well. "Oh, no real reason," he tried evasively, "The case just interested him and he just wondered if there was anything the police had missed."

"I don't believe you," Mello stated flatly. Near raised an eyebrow. "Why would L, who deals practically exclusively with very major crimes, mass murderers and such, be interested in Misa's death? Especially as someone's already been convicted."

Near took a moment to look at Mello again, ignoring both the leather and the attitude this time. This, he realised, was a very clever man, one that in another world could be – although it was a remote possibility – a real _rival_.

A rival that just now had his back against the wall. Time to change tactics.

"We're getting no where like this. All I need is about five minutes of your time and then you can return to your break." He gave Mello a look which had worked wonders on the more rebellious children at the orphanage. "The only one who loses from this pointless discussion is you."

"Good thinking." And now a lazy smile graced Mello's feminine features, "But you still haven't answered my question."

Near ignored this. "So, you were with Sayu Yagami, in her room, when the murder was committed." Mello nodded slowly, eyes unfriendly, but – thankfully – didn't get defensive. Amane had had a reputation as a first class diva and evidently this ran in the family.

"Why did you go to see her?" There was no point being nice to this suspect, Near decided, animosity ratings were already _way_ off the scale.

The blonde frowned, "Because we were friends, and we hadn't seen each other for a while. We had stuff to catch up on," he spoke slowly, like he was explaining things to a six-year-old.

Near's eyes brightened maliciously at the glimpse of a possible clue, "But according to what we know, you were talking to her all during dinner."

Mello couldn't see the question (or rather he did but he wasn't going to make it easy for Near by answering it).

"What did you have to speak to Miss Yagami about that you couldn't risk the others overhearing?" Near spelled it out ungraciously. If the actor was going to make this as difficult as possible then he would too.

"I'm sorry, is this relevant at all?" Those blue eyes narrowed again. "The police were happy knowing Sayu was my alibi, I was hers, we heard Raito and Misa's argument while we were talking and nothing else. After we were done, I returned to my own room and found my cousin's body on the way. And that is all you need to know."

"Well it's necessary to thoroughly examine anyone with a motive." The comment was baiting, deliberately provocative, Near knew. He didn't care.

Mello did.

"Are you saying I murdered my cousin?" was the surprisingly quiet reply of a man who had made a hardly inconsiderable amount of money of his own by controlling (and feigning, possibly) his responses.

"You inherited half of her very substantial fortune, most people would say that sort of money constitutes towards a motive."

Near prepared himself for an explosion.

"You know what," Mello moved closer, until there was only about a six inches between them. "I loved my cousin. I have no parents, no brothers, no sisters, just one grandmother and until three months ago I used to have _her_." Were those heartbreakingly blue eyes suddenly overly bright, shining with unshed tears? "The thought of benefiting from her death makes me feel physically ill." He sighed and continued bitterly, "Yagami deserves to rot in prison and then in hell for what he did to her."

Near was experienced enough to know when he would get little more from a suspect, but on impulse decided to ask one last question. "Are you and Miss Yagami still friends in spite of everything that's happened?"

"Yes."

Near raised an eyebrow; he hadn't expected that. "Despite the fact you think her brother murdered your cousin?"

Mello frowned. "Yes. It's more awkward now, obviously. But I don't think you should hold people accountable for their families' actions. Besides, my friendship with Sayu is worth keeping."

That was interesting. The white haired man hadn't imagined Mello had such _adult_ feelings.

"Thank you for your time, Mr Keehl," he said, before turning to leave.

He felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Papa Yagami asked L to get Raito off, didn't he?" Mello was smiling again, managing to look both self-assured and predatory at once. If nothing else, his mood swings were very impressive.

Near ignored that, which Mello took (rightly) as confirmation. "I knew it." He gave a cynical half sneer. "Law enforcement's just one big club nowadays."

Near ignored this too. "What's that?" he gestured half-heartedly at the piece of paper half-clasped in Mello's outstretched ivory hand.

Mello handed it over with a smirk and a wave, before turning and languidly walking back to the set. Near looked at it, and almost had to suppress an uncharacteristic giggle. An autograph.

"Are you leaving now?"

Near turned to face the same young woman who had all but fled from him before. "Is Matt Jeevas around anywhere?" As an executive producer and writer of the game the series was based on, it wouldn't be entirely illogical for him to be present.

"Yeah?" Green eyes partially obscured by strands of red hair looked up distractedly from some sort of game console. Near had barely noticed the young man in the stripes and goggles sitting alone at a table quite near to them. "Someone say my name?"

Miss Assistant-Director seemed far less deferent to Matt Jeevas than to Mello Keehl, Near noted. "This is Near, he works for L and wants to ask you about Misa Amane's death," (she'd obviously been eavesdropping). Near nodded in confirmation.

"Really?" He blinked sluggishly and then his eyes seemed to sharpen like a cat's. "Shall we go to my office then? More private." Near nodded in full agreement. If this suspect was anything like the last one then any intimacy offered would be a blessing.

Jeevas led him away from the set to a small well-lit room that gave a surprisingly spectacular view of downtown London. It was also incredibly messy, Near thought disdainfully, with game consoles, half finished sketches and pieces of paper lying everywhere. He looked at Matt with new eyes; it wasn't everyday you met someone who made L look like an absolute neat freak.

The red head gestured to a chair. "Sit," he said, before seating himself behind the desk. "Mind if I smoke?" Near shook his head and Matt lit up.

Deciding he would get no other prompts from the gamer, Near began. "So when Amane's body was found, you were in bed with your wife."

Matt nodded. "Yeah, she was with me from the time we went to bed until the time the body was found."

"Is there's any way either of you could have slipped out at all during the night?"

Mello would have taken immediate offence, but Matt merely shook his head. "No, I mean, I'm a very light sleeper. For Kiyomi to have left at all without me noticing would have been impossible. Besides, they were best friends and she was totally crushed by Misa's death."

"And what about you?" Yes, Mello would have hit him by now Near decided, but Matt seemed as laid back as ever. He found himself almost imperceptibly warming to the slender red head.

Matt took a drag from his cigarette, considering the question for what it was: a question. "Well, Kiyomi isn't an especially regular sleeper – it would be risky to assume that she wouldn't wake up. Plus I think I was a bit drunk that night, so I'd have been clumsy and probably making a lot of noise." He inhaled again, "Someone would have noticed."

Well Near could see some gaps in that but it wouldn't do to panic a possible murderer. Particularly when you were alone with him in a high rise office next to a window.

"You were speaking with Amane practically all through dinner. What about?" Near pressed.

"Oh god." Matt scrunched up his eyes in thought. "Honestly, I can't really remember. It's all a bit fuzzy – I'd had a bit to drink, you see. Not much I don't think, but then I am a total light weight. Hmm, I think Misa was asking most of the questions, what I'd been doing and so on."

"Did she annoy you?" Near asked softly, grey eyes locking with emerald green.

The suspect just shrugged casually. "Not really." Matt Jeevas was a very tolerant man, Near decided. "A bit, maybe," he continued, after a pause and another long drag. "I don't know, it's so long ago, I'm not sure if I can remember much anyway. And you shouldn't speak ill of the dead." Matt started to speak faster – nerves, maybe? He sighed, forcing himself to relax. "She was a sweet girl, a bit prying and tactless maybe, and she didn't have much regard for privacy. I can see why she annoyed Raito, but she was totally innocent. I didn't want her dead."

"Did you fancy her?" Near knew he was pushing his luck here.

"No," for the first time Matt looked both annoyed and insulted. "I'm married. Happily married," he took a breath, Near wondered whether he was reassuring himself about something. "Fidelity's underrated today, it still means something. And Misa, well, she was nice and all but she wasn't really _my type_."

Near decided to drop that line then and there. "Who do you think killed Misa?"

The red head drew pale lips in, thinking about it. "I'd have to say Raito did it. I mean, the jury doesn't often get it wrong. It's not like she had whole reams of enemies. And the others said they heard arguing plus he was in her will. If she was going to cut him out then – "

"The _others_ heard arguing? You didn't?"

Matt shook his head, "No, but we are on a different floor after all."

"And no thuds or bangs?" A body falling down the stairs must have made some noise. Misa hadn't been heavy but even so.

"No. But then, we have thick carpet. And thick doors. And the body was found on the opposite side of the landing to where our room is."

Near thought in silence for a moment. "Thank you for your time Mr Jeevas," he concluded.

Matt smiled, "Any time."

* * *

Near left hurriedly and exited the building, glad to be standing in the warm air. Really, if this good weather held they might actually have a summer this year, as opposed to the year before when it just rained, rained and rained some more from June through August(1).

He hopped on The Tube and went two stops on the Hammersmith and City Line (that's the pink one, he reminded himself. God he hated not being able to drive, even though driving in London was ghastly) before arriving at the restaurant where L had conveniently arranged for him to meet his next suspect for lunch. Well good, he thought, he was starving. And L was paying.

"Hi," the woman smiled when he arrived, "Near, is it?" Kiyomi Takada-Jeevas extended a smooth white hand. Near shook it before seating himself opposite her.

"Mrs Jeevas, you know why I'm here?" he said, once they'd ordered drinks and food.

Takada nodded gravely. "You want to know what I know about the night Misa died. Although I don't honestly think I'll be much help."

"Why not?"

She brushed an inky strand of hair aside. "Because there's very little I can tell you that hasn't already been told."

"That's as maybe. But I'd still like you to answer my questions." Considering he was sitting here, having lunch with a beautiful (married) woman, Near thought he was doing very well to keep his voice even.

Takada nodded, he took that as a prompt. "So where were you when the murder was committed?" he started

"In bed, probably asleep, with my husband," she replied.

Near nodded, it was what he'd expected after all. "Did you leave at all?"

She shook her head, short dark strands flying everywhere, "No, well, I used our bathroom but that was before the murder. For me to sneak out would have been impossible – Matt wakes up at anything!" She sounded quite annoyed at that – Near wondered how many times she'd been reduced to tiptoeing around her own bedroom so that she didn't wake her husband.

"And you didn't hear anything else during the night?"

Again, a head shake, "No, no bumps, no screams. Did she scream, actually? No one said they heard one. Although – wait!" Her eyes widened, Near held his breath. "Someone ran a bath!"

Well wasn't that anticlimactic? "What time?" Near asked.

Takada shrugged. "I'm not sure, I didn't exactly check. Maybe around an hour to an hour and a half after we all went up. It was very late, and I was trying to get to sleep; that's why I noticed it."

"So possibly around the time the murder was committed then," Near decided, making a mental note to ask the remaining suspects whether they'd had a bath that night.

She nodded again before excusing herself to go to the bathroom, leaving her handbag behind. It wasn't as though L's assistant was going to steal anything.

But that didn't mean Near wasn't very interested to see what was in it.

Mobile, purse containing about forty pounds plus various credit cards and driving license (he looked at it ruefully), cigarette lighter, compact (designer) umbrella, Oyster Card(2), digital camera, tape recorder and – wait a minute: a small capsule containing tiny white pills.

Near quickly swiped two with tweezers. One he put in a sterile plastic bag to send to toxicology. The other he put on his tongue.

Benzodiazepine. So Mrs Kiyomi Takada-Jeevas had sleeping problems did she?

"So how have you been?" he asked courteously when she returned.

"Honestly?" Well yes, he was investigating a murder here, honesty would be appreciated, "Everything's been messed up," Near saw real distress in her expression, "I mean, I've had trouble sleeping – just couldn't – _can't_ – get the image of her body out of my head. And," she paused for a second, looking at him imploringly. "I felt so guilty."

He raised an eyebrow. "Guilty?"

She nodded morosely. "It was my house, she was my friend – I invited her. Although having people over was Matt's idea, like a late birthday thing for him." She gave a little giggle, "I thought it was sweet of him, he doesn't normally like having people over." She sighed, "And, If Raito really did kill Misa, then I introduced them. So it was my fault."

"_If_ Raito killed Misa? You don't think he did?"

She shook her head. "No. That's why I was prepared to be a character witness for the defence at his trial. I mean, I know there's no evidence linking anyone else to it, but Raito, it just doesn't fit, even though he and Misa were going through a rocky patch, he wouldn't kill her for it."

"What this rough patch was about?" This was off topic but with L's ever growing obsession about _'Raito-kun'_ Near didn't think his reclusive employer would chastise him for chasing a bit of extra gossip.

For the first time, Takada looked hesitant. "They both had affairs," she said slowly, not looking at him.

"Do you know who with?" Near tried to conceal his excitement: this could be a real breakthrough – if one of the people Misa or Raito had slept with had wanted revenge then that could easily constitute a motive.

Takada shook her head, Near's high disintegrated. "Raito could tell you though," she pointed out, evidently seeing his disappointment.

He nodded. "Mrs Jeevas, was there ever anything between you and Mr Yagami?" he asked, changing the thread of the discussion.

"You mean romantically?" He nodded. "No, we were more rivals at university than anything else. He's very good looking," she gave a girlish smile, "But he's sort of always fancied himself."

"Misa spent a lot of that dinner speaking to your husband." Takada was lovely, Near decided, but that didn't mean she wasn't a suspect and every possible motive should be investigated.

"Is there a question here?" Just like Mello, she started to sound defensive.

Near shrugged. "Were you jealous your husband was paying so much attention to your best friend?"

"Oh," she looked relieved, "No, not at all. I was quite flattered actually that he kept talking to her, like he was trying to properly get to know one of my friends. Normally he's quite antisocial."

Near could relate to that last. Why did some people think disliking other people in general should be a crime?

"How do you and your husband generally get on?"

She wasn't insulted, thankfully. "Fine. We've been married almost three years now, and we've both been very happy."

"Who do you think killed Misa Amane then?"

Takada visibly thought about this. "Well," she started slowly, "The stranger no one really knows much about here is Mr Mikami – Teru. And Mello – Mello has a nasty temper."

"I'd noticed," Near replied shortly. He personally hoped Keehl was innocent, as he would have to spend less time in the volatile blonde's company.

The food arrived quite soon afterwards, and they ate more or less in silence, both pondering what had just been said. After lunch he excused himself politely, leaving her his card in case there was anything else she thought of to tell him.

* * *

As requested, Near sent a brief email to L concerning the morning's interrogations:

_Questioning Keehl, honestly, it was like banging my head against a wall. All I got from him was that he spent the evening talking to Sayu and then returned to his room, encountering his cousin's body en route._

_Jeevas was more approachable but remembered very little of the actual details of the night. Either that or he was being deliberately evasive._

_Mrs Takada-Jeevas mentioned that Amane and Yagami both had had affairs but didn't know whom with. Definitely something worth looking into._

L read the email without comment.

Near might have been the best Wammy's had to offer, but sometimes he was such a _disappointment_.

* * *

"I'm fine, really," Raito insisted futilely to his father who was sitting across from him. He wasn't quite sure whether he was trying to convince Soichiro or himself. They both so badly needed to believe that he was indeed fine inside. And they both knew - _of course_ they knew – he was lying through his teeth.

Yagami Soichiro was just a metre away from him. Within touching distance. But father and son were whole worlds apart.

Raito was lucky to have him, he knew. To have someone who believed you were innocent – even if their faith wasn't quite as concrete as L's – was a real support, and Soichiro's faith in his son hadn't wavered once.

"No, I am, really I'm OK," Raito tried again all too well aware that he was just digging himself a hole. "I've got a job here," washing dishes but he was proud of it nonetheless. "I'm just keeping my head down," to hide how pretty he was, "And no one's bothering me." Much. Considering he was the most _topical_ convict in here, and a former copper at that, that was.

"L came to see me," Raito started again tentatively, more to distract them both from that tense, anxious expression on his father's face than anything else.

It worked.

"L! In person! That's unheard of!" Soichiro appeared almost outraged at the prospect.

"Yeah well," Raito normally didn't do modesty but when one is in prison facing at least twenty years behind bars the concept of 'normal' does not apply. "He just wanted me to tell him everything that had happened, you know, what we did, who we chatted to, where we were sleeping, when the body was found…"

He trailed off, thinking furiously.

His father got little else out of him for the rest of their time together. After Soichiro left, sadly clasping his son's hands in farewell, Raito all but sprinted to the mess hall where the inmates were allowed their free association.

The phone was unoccupied; he made a dash for it.

Once there, Raito then drew from his pocket that white business card he'd kept with him since a very interesting discussion he'd had with an equally strange man. He found its presence strangely reassuring for some reason and couldn't quite bring himself to leave it in his cell.

Turning it over in slender fingers he looked at the hand-written pencil numbers on the back. L's mobile(3). L had given him the number of his own personal mobile phone.

What the hell was _that_ supposed to mean?

He dialled it, fingers almost shaking. For some reason he was now inexplicably nervous.

The phone rang; he held his breath in anticipation.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this L?" he asked quietly after checking there was no one in earshot (not that it mattered, he was speaking in Japanese).

"Yes," came the gravely baritone reply. Raito's heart rate skyrocketed.

"L, it's Yagami Raito."

Raito would swear blind he'd just heard a faint – but very audible – intake of breath.

"And what does Raito-kun wish to speak to me about?" Raito-kun? That was new, the brunet thought, wanting to smile. But that feeling had to be quashed – it wasn't important, yet.

"I've just realised something."

* * *

Yes, I am going to leave it there. Sorry.

Why have I only questioned three of the seven? Well, I have already written Near questioning Sayu and Mikami too, but Akito-Aya (my wonderful, very long-suffering beta) and I thought 5 interrogation sessions were too many for the human brain to feasibly handle in one go. Plus the chapter was getting ludicrously long.

Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed: Serria, Naomi Iori, Akito-Aya, Paon, chrono-contact, Akito-Aya, metal-mako-dragon, saku-enjie, The Sacred Pandapuff, Sarahfreak and Shadow-L-chan. No replies this time as I'm not exactly discrete and was worried I would unintentionally reveal something (through trying to be clever), not because your reviews were not appreciated or because I couldn't be bothered. Especially thank you to Akito-Aya and metal-mako-dragon for telling me about term times in Japan.

Yeah, reviews very much wanted please, plus criticism. Actually any feedback at all would be so much appreciated. And keep on guessing!!

I leave on the 25th for two weeks so no updates then. Everything considered it is unrealistic to assume that I will get the next chapter up before then – but I will try. Honestly it does depend how many reviews I get (this is not a hint, this is a fact).

(1) About the weather in summer 2007, this really happened. It was miserable. Summer 2006 by contrast was wonderful.

(2) Oyster card – a cheap(er) way to get around London (by tube and buses) than conventional tickets and travel cards. But not much cheaper, if at all.

(3) Mobile - cell phone (tell me if these things are overkill and I'll stop. I tend to labour the point a bit).

Next chapter: why were two agents from two different countries present at the murder of an international celebrity?


	5. Chapter 4 Questioning Part 2

**This is dedicated to anyone (unlucky enough to be) receiving their A-level or AS-level results tomorrow. Good luck everyone!! Me, I'm terrified but there you go.**

Disclaimer: various items were posted to me during my holiday but the rights to Death Note were not among them. More worrying is the continued absence of my Tesco clubcard.

Warnings: slightly more L/Raito

Chapter 4: Questioning Part 2

* * *

And now, Near thought as he got on a train back to downtown London (after triple checking that it was a) the right line and b) going in the right direction. Last week he had ended up in Vauxhall somehow when aiming for Islington), it was time for him to meet with his next suspect.

Sayu Yagami.

Near didn't honestly think there was a particularly high chance of her being the killer, but she had been there that night and so therefore was a suspect and so therefore had to be questioned.

He knocked on the door of her hotel room.

A slim young woman – girl really, she was only twenty-one after all – answered the door. Although her expression seemed somewhat subdued (her brother was in prison after all) her eyes large dark eyes were filled with vivacity and a girlish exuberance which spoke of happier times.

She greeted him enthusiastically enough, he presumed, speaking very rapid Japanese. He couldn't understand a word of it.

"I'm sorry could you possibly slow down a little?" Near asked in the same language, embarrassed. He was L's assistant for crying out loud, he was supposed to be fluent in _everything_.

Well he wasn't. Not yet anyway.

She blushed prettily and nodded. "I'm sorry. L told my father you speak Japanese," she replied haltingly in English.

"I do," this was ridiculous – they were both speaking each other's language (and not very well), "Just not quickly." L would not be pleased about asking her to slow down – any intonations in her speech if she had been speaking unthinkingly, which may have held clues, could be lost.

Oh well, it couldn't be helped. And L did know his assistant's linguistic limitations.

Near asked her what she'd been doing the night of the murder. "Well, I returned to my room with everyone else. Mello knocked on my door about ten minutes later and then we just chatted for hours," she replied. Near smiled inwardly, she appeared to understand him and he felt his confidence (knocked by Mello earlier) grow very slightly.

"And then I had a shower," she finished.

"With Mello?" he asked, trying not to go red (and failing) as if he wasn't quizzing a pretty young woman about her sex life.

"Oh, God no!" She blushed furiously, "No. I mean, I so would. Mello's hot. But I'm not really his type."

Near couldn't see why not, but felt it would be unprofessional to comment.

"How long for?" That was by far the bigger issue – Mello easily could have slipped out if the shower was long enough, and honestly, how much time was required to hit someone over the head with something?

"I don't know – I don't usually time my showers. But about five, ten minutes maybe. And," she added quickly when she saw where he was going with this, "I had the bathroom door open. I was talking to him the whole time."

Damn it. Just because he didn't especially want the killer to be Keehl didn't mean he'd be very happy to convict him.

"Yagami-san, why did you accompany your brother on this trip?" he asked considering that for Sayu the timing wasn't exactly perfect. If Near was correct, in fact, it was in the run up to her exams (exams she'd had to obtain special permission to return to Japan in the middle of her brother's trial in order to take).

"It seemed a good opportunity. I did well in my exams last year, Raito always said he'd take me away somewhere as a reward."

"So you chose London in February?" When you could go to Hawaii in July? Right because this was logical. Perhaps it wasn't so farfetched for her to be the murderer. But why fly to London to commit it? Fear of the death penalty in Japan maybe? Mentally he shook his head – he was jumping to conclusions again. For starters, there was no conceivable motive.

And then, there was the small matter of her alibi.

"Yes," Sayu continued. "Misa was doing – supposed to be doing, sorry – this photo shoot for Rimmel and it just seemed really interesting. And plus," she smiled mischievously and he began to see a glimpse of her character, "We were promised freebies."

"Any other reasons for wanting to go?"

She stiffened, "I'd recently been dumped. I wanted a change, just get out of Japan for a little bit. That a crime?

"Did you hear anyone running a bath at all?" Near changed the subject quickly – they were getting way off topic.

Sayu's dark eyes widened. "Yes, actually. It was what reminded me that I should have a shower. Although I'm not sure when it was exactly."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Yagami-san," he started, thoughtfully twirling a snowy lock around his forefinger, "What language do you speak to Mr Keehl in?"

"A mixture. Does it matter?" She seemed confused by the question.

"Maybe," no probably not. This witness was pretty much next to useless. "Did you notice anything strange that night?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed excitedly. Near was slightly taken aback by her outburst. "Although it's probably nothing – Raito said it wasn't important…"

"And," Near prompted, as Sayu seemed to be vacillating about whether she would in fact tell him this probably innocuous little detail.

"My diary. I swear I hadn't unpacked it, but when I got back to my room after dinner it was lying on my bed. And my makeup case was all disorganised, and I don't think I left it like that."

"So you think someone was looking for something?" She nodded. What, though? What did some Japanese medical student have? And was it connected to Amane's death?

"Any idea what they were looking for?"

She shook her head. "Not a clue, sorry."

Although it could be simply that she hadn't been paying attention. From the state of her hotel room, it didn't look as though she was the most together of individuals.

"How are you at the moment?" Near asked.

She gave a little sigh, shoulders slumping. "Umm…alive?" she started with a wry smile. "It's not easy with Raito being away. And that this new investigation, it's like we – my family and I – shouldn't hope. And Mum," she paused, he nodded at her encouragingly, "I think Mum thinks he's guilty honestly," Near nodded sympathetically again (what else could he do?), internally making a note to inform L that the Yagamis weren't as close as they seemed. "And a lot of my friends think that too, so now I'm like a murderer's sister and it's," she paused, tears were starting to leak, "it's horrible!"

Near stiffened at the sight of her crying. After a couple moments' consideration he handed her a tissue and then awkwardly patted her on the back in what he hoped was a kindly manner.

For the moment though, he had nothing further he needed to ask her, and if he stayed he'd probably end up getting hit. "That's all I think for now actually," he excused himself politely, once she'd calmed down slightly. "Thank you for your time."

He left quickly, shutting the door quietly behind him.

* * *

And then there was his final interviewee. Teru Mikami, prosecutor, Japanese citizen, studied law at Cambridge University before starting to practice in England and Wales. So far all above board. Very much the dark horse at this particular gathering. No discernible motive – not yet anyway – but interesting due to his lack of an alibi.

The lawyer's office at the Crown Prosecution Service, though compact, was clearly rigorously organised. Near expected Mikami was something of a closet obsessive-compulsive. Closet referring to the size of the office, of course.

"So you want to ask me questions about Amane murder?" Mikami stated obnoxiously as he sat down behind his desk. Near nodded.

"There's nothing I can tell you. I went to bed after the meal, fell asleep and didn't wake up until the murder was discovered," he continued quickly.

Near just nodded again. "Did you notice anything strange at all that night."

Mikami decisively shook his head. "No, everyone was acting completely normally. Almost made me think it was some tragic accident. It couldn't have been that or self defence or something, could it?"

"I thought you were a prosecutor," Near replied coldly, "Shouldn't the defence be asking that question?" Accident? Was the man mad?

"Do you think Raito Yagami is guilty?" Near asked.

"There's enough evidence for a conviction, certainly." Mikami was obviously speaking from experience.

"But you were speaking to him all throughout dinner. Did he strike you as a murderer?" Near's words were flat, emotionless, intimidating.

"I hardly think it is safe to base a conclusion like that on two hours' worth of evidence," Mikami replied calmly.

A lawyer's reply. Not necessarily an honest one.

"What were your opinions of Misa Amane?"

Mikami snorted. "Pretty girl, used her looks to make herself rich and famous, good natured, nice smile. I hardly spoke to her." He snorted again, "I should have asked her for her autograph – it would have been worth millions."

Near remembered something from the transcript of L's interview with _Raito-kun_. "Mr Mikami, had you had any previous dealings with Mello Keehl?" he asked, fiddling with a snowy white lock.

"I'd met him before," the black haired man replied shortly. "He was there when I was investigating Jeevas in December. I think they were discussing that TV show. Not the most reasonable of men, I dare say."

Well, yes, Near would agree with that.

"Is there anything else important that you can tell me?"

Mikami shook his head. Near had expected as much.

"Thank you Mr Mikami," he concluded, "I daresay I'll see you again."

For some reason Mikami looked less than reassured by that reply.

* * *

L's next email from his assistant was as follows:

_Miss Yagami mentioned very little of interest, although I'm slightly dubious about her reasons for wanting to be in the UK at the time of the murder. Also mentioned that her possessions were probably searched without her consent, and she suspects that her diary was read. Does not seem to match the profile for the killer_

_Mikami is very insistent that he knows nothing._

All in all, nothing especially interesting. Raito's information, however, when combined with what Near had found out earlier, could it mean… And if it did, was it something that contributed to Amane's murder?

L was slightly surprised that he had overlooked something that Raito had (belatedly) spotted. However this he decided was not the time to dwell on it.

An interview with Naomi Misora and Raye Penber (done via his laptop, of course) had been arranged. A new window displaying both of their faces popped up on the computer's screen.

"Why were you both in Winchester on the night of the murder?" L asked without any preamble (or greeting. Raye looked offended but Naomi was totally unfazed).

"We were investigating Mello Keehl and Sayu Yagami," Naomi replied naturally, smiling a hello.

"What?" Raye exclaimed sharply. "You can't tell him that, that's confidential."

Naomi's answering look said rather succinctly 'who exactly are we talking to here?'

"On what grounds?" L cut in, partly because he was curious and partly because he had no wish to watch a lovers' (and it was obvious that that was what they were) spat.

Silence. Naomi appeared to be waiting for Raye's confirmation before revealing anything.

Raye inhaled deeply. "All right L, but this is highly classified information."

"I understand," L replied shortly.

"Well recently," Naomi began, "A biology professor in Japan developed a drug which uses the electrical excitability of cardiac tissue to catalyse the formation of thrombin in the coronary arteries which converts the fibrinogen in the blood to fibrin fibres, leading to a…"

"…A massive blood clot in the heart(1). An instant heart attack," L finished, in his standard droning tone but secretly aghast. "Did Sayu steal some of this drug?" he asked, brain instantly flying into action.

"How did you know that?" Raye all but shouted at the laptop. L swore he could see an artery throbbing in the man's head.

L shrugged, despite the fact they couldn't see it. "It isn't hard to figure out. Sayu attends Tokyo University where I presume, considering that it is a world renowned institution, this drug was developed and as a medical student she would therefore have virtually unrestricted access, especially if the drug was developed with the professor unaware of the properties."

Over the laptop, L could see Naomi and Raye looking extremely impressed. They shouldn't be so surprised, he thought prosaically to himself. He was the best after all. "You're exactly right," Raye said. "In January approximately 20ml of this drug was disappeared. The lab technicians denied spilling any so the only conceivable explanation was that someone – a student, most likely – had deliberately removed it."

"But how is Keehl involved with this?"

This time it was Naomi who answered. "Shortly after the drug was stolen, the FBI intercepted a missive to a Mafia boss in Los Angeles – Rod Ross – concerning the incipient arrival of that drug from London. And we think Keehl was the one supposed to deliver it to them.

"Up until about fifteen years ago, Keehl's father, a Slovenian(2) immigrant living in LA, used to work for Ross, before the mob killed him for embezzling funds. That's when Keehl's mother – a British citizen – moved back to England with five year old Mihael."

"So he grows up, changes his name from Mihael to Mello, starts an acting career and uses his dad's old mob contacts to make a nice little earner on the side." Raye finished much more succinctly.

L raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any proof?" he asked.

Naomi shrugged self-consciously. "No," she admitted, "But it all seems too much to be coincidence. I mean, we have a girl was one of a relatively few people who would have had ample opportunity to steal the drug, who happens to be close to the son of a man who used to work directly for Ross and who could easily post it or fly to LA and hand the drug over."

"What my partner is trying to say," Raye butt in, "Is that the British, Japanese and American intelligence services have found no leads what so ever and this connection was the only one anyone could uncover."

L nodded pensively despite the fact they couldn't see him and probably thought he was blanking them. His mind was meanwhile turning over the new information, wondering whether it was in fact true. This new drug stuff; were Sayu and Mello even involved, or was it just a forced conclusion from some circumstantial evidence?

But that he didn't know for sure whether it was true or not (although he had his suspicions, of course) did not necessarily mean that he couldn't draw some very useful conclusions from it.

"Mr Penber," he started, ready now to begin a proper questioning session, "Your fingerprints were on the murder weapon." L had long ago decided tact was a total waste of time.

Raye, however didn't appear to take offence but merely winced sheepishly. "Yeah that really was stupid of me. After we found the body, and I saw that it looked like assault with a blunt object I went looking for a possible weapon. I figured the murderer might have left it at the crime scene. When I found it, I just got excited and picked it up."

"Don't forget it was like 3am," Naomi interjected coming to her boyfriend's defence, "Raye was tired and overwhelmed." She flashed him a brilliant smile, "We all were."

"Had you met with Amane previously?" L asked.

Raye shook his head while Naomi stayed quiet. "I knew she was a model but that was all. Although Thames House(3) was told in advance that she would be there as a guest of Matt's wife," he completed.

"You and Matt Jeevas go back a long way together," L probed.

Raye nodded. "Yeah, we were in the same halls at Warwick Uni together. He, um…He had a few problems."

"Problems such as…"

"Heroin." Raye stated concisely. However he continued quickly, "But he got himself cleaned up, spent six months in some NHS(4) run rehab, redid the year and now he's totally fine."

"Did he rely on you a lot?" L pressed. Mello, Sayu, Naomi and Raye all together in the same house for one evening when a girl was killed. It couldn't be a coincidence.

"Yeah, I uh, I guess you could say he did," Raye nodded, not quite understanding where this was going. Naomi did though, he could tell by that slightly smug glint in her eye.

"So he owed you a lot of favours?" L questioned silkily.

Raye nodded again, slightly suspiciously this time. Evidently the man had finally noticed the purpose of this. Naomi was barely concealing a grin that said 'he's got us.'

L smiled softly to himself, "Enough favours for you to pressure him into organising the entire get-together and telling him who he had to invite, simply to give Sayu and Mello the perfect opportunity to hand the drug over and hence catch them in the act."

Raye just gaped. Naomi just smirked at him as if to say 'I told you he was good.'

"How…how on Earth did you figure that out?" Raye gasped, still practically speechless. How had L seen through what was an innocent little social event to celebrate a birthday to find an MI5 operation?

"It wasn't hard," L droned. "Matt Jeevas dislikes people and is well known as an intensely private person. However, his wife tells us that he suggested the whole thing, which seems decidedly out of character. And we know from your statements that you were friends at university together. If anyone had effected this event, you did."

L paused. "Were the rooms bugged?" If MI5 had deliberately concealed information that could clear Raito through not wanting to alert their own suspects then that was just wrong!

"Only Sayu's and Mello's, for obvious reasons and then it was cameras only so we could see the exchange if it took place (which it didn't). No audio," Naomi said.

"Matt was absolutely insistent on no audio," Raye said. "It makes sense though – a man so fanatic about his own privacy would want to protect that of his guests."

"So both of you were together, watching Mello and Sayu when the murder was committed?" he continued, getting back to the real case of Amane's murder. Perhaps he was biased due to his previous dealings with Naomi but L put these two as among the least likely to be the killer. They nodded.

"And did you observe any suspicious behaviour in anyone during the evening?"

"We were just concentrating on Keehl and Miss Yagami, remember?" Naomi said. "And they were acting totally naturally."

"I thought Yagami – Raito that is – was acting oddly around Amane," Raye added.

Naomi nodded in agreement, "Yeah I know what you mean, he made no effort to talk to her or anything during dinner or later."

"That doesn't make him a killer," L said vehemently. He instantly reproached himself – where had that come from?

Fortunately the voice coder had taken a lot of the heat out of that statement so Naomi and Raye hadn't picked up on the force in it. But that didn't mean he himself could ignore it.

He rounded up the session after that worrying display of emotion. They'd told him what he wanted to know after all.

And the latest information they'd provided had confirmed his prior suspicions.

* * *

Raito stared at the ceiling of his cell. Despite the fact it was gone 1am, sleep was impossible partially because of his cellmate's cacophonous snoring on the bunk below him but mostly because he was thinking about something else.

The case. Except lately he thought tiredly as he took that business card out from under his pillow and turned it over in his hands, softly running fingers along the smooth white cardboard. Lately his thoughts were less frequently about the case and more and more frequently about L.

Raito gave a sort of half smile in the darkness. Talking to the detective earlier had been an unexpected pleasure, he realised, tracing the individual digits of L's number by memory alone. The detective's bright, agile, genius mind was both entertaining and enthralling, which made it especially flattering to know that L hadn't spotted that inconsistency until he pointed it out.

Although whether that little inconsistency meant something…that was another matter. And not, he reminded himself bitterly but firmly, something that he should be concerned with. He wasn't a detective anymore, L was. Which meant that he just had to sit tight in his little cage while L took his own sweet time and another killer roamed the streets completely uninhibited.

Raito sighed again, and returned to playing with the card, knowing that such thoughts would just land him in isolation eventually. In the dim light he could just notice the contrast between the white of the card and the blackness of the ornate gothic L. It reminded him of the difference between L's paper white skin and those bottomless onyx eyes. Or the way the light flickered prettily in the detective's glossy night dark hair.

He felt a rush of heat.

Oh dear God, please, he couldn't be getting all hot and flustered like that over a card!

Could he?

Dear Lord he must be desperate!

He quickly returned the card to its usual spot underneath his pillow.

Still, he thought, desperately trying to calm himself down as soon as possible, that little inconsistency wasn't something that should be overlooked, it wasn't just the one in question mixing up his words. No, this was a genuine slip that he – Raito Yagami, convicted murderer – had picked up on.

And so whatever way he chose to look at it…

…Mello was definitely hiding something.

* * *

**If you notice what the problem with Mello's story is then I will give you a spoiler.** Not like whodunnit but just a bit of info that hasn't been revealed. Although I warn you that it is rather tiny (which can be L's excuse for not spotting it). **Hint: reread closely chapters 1 and 2** (where 1 is not the prologue).

Thank you again to anyone who reviewed: Roku8Cookie, Paon, Miao-Shou, rosekyo, The Sacred Pandapuff, chrono-contract, metal-mako-dragon, Akito-Aya, northern-diamond, saku-enjie and Shadow-L-Chan.

Please review (as ever) and give criticism generously

Yeah, first time I uploaded this it killed a lot of my formatting. So here it is, up again.

Special thanks to Akito-Aya who beta'd this extremely quickly because I wanted to get this up tonight before my results.

(1) I have no idea if such a drug exists, or even if it could exist (if you know could you tell me, please). Coagulation is slightly (heh slightly) more complicated than the thrombin, fibrinogen and fibrin reactions but you get the idea. And I didn't think anyone wanted a detailed explanation of how this drug would activate the platelets (which are also needed) to form a clot.

(2) Mello is Slovenian (or at least his father was) because I typed Mihael into Google (yes I really did) and all the Mihaels I found were from Slovenia. So I thought, OK, I won't argue with Google. Even if facebook was telling me that they all live in London.

(3) For anyone who doesn't watch Spooks (and you can probably tell I do from this chapter), Thames House is the headquarters of MI5.

(4) NHS – National Health Service. I don't know which other countries have this (or an equivalent) but basically it's funded by taxes so you don't have to pay for medical care in the UK.

Next chapter: L and Near visit the scene of the crime.


	6. Chapter 5 Winchester

Sorry for long break. Back now. And finally the questioning is done. 7 suspects. God. Now for something completely different: forensic!L, or at least snooping!L

Just so you know, I have never actually been to Winchester – despite living about sixty miles away from it, so any inconsistencies I apologise for. It does, however, appear to have a convenient number of nice mansions, so that isn't inconsistent at least. And do I know (because I've driven past it on the way to the south coast) that it's in a very pretty area. Lots of nice green hills.

Disclaimer: Nope, no Death Note rights here.

* * *

"We're going to Winchester," Near thought dimly, half-heartedly playing with a Transformer as he looked uninterestedly out the train's window at all the 50mph signs on the M3(1) below them. What exactly they were to do in Winchester (apart from visit Jeevas' house and snoop) L was still being rather vague about. He wasn't entirely sure, but Near strongly suspected his reclusive employer had chosen not to inform Matt or Kiyomi of his plans for the day.

So in short, they were breaking and entering. Which was _illegal_.

He sneaked a look at the man who looked entirely unconcerned munching on a series of gingerbread men bought fresh that morning from Waterloo Station. For someone who was considered around the world as the physical embodiment of justice, L certainly was not too bothered about breaking the law.

The world's ultimate detective had spent most of the past ten days since the end of the questioning sitting alone and thinking, until this morning he had sharply informed his assistant that staying in Piccadilly simply wouldn't do and that they needed to go to Winchester for the day. And, considering that Near (in spite of an IQ of roughly 200) was so far simply _unable_ to pass a driving test, that meant fathing about with trains. Wonderful.

Was it inconsistent, the detective's assistant wondered, for his employer be so paranoid about the world knowing his face and yet have no problem with using British Public Transport to hop around the south of England?

(Near was seriously hoping that their next assignment was somewhere without this particular public transport system. Whether he was being crushed to death by thousands of commuters on The Underground or wondering whether the British Rail stopping train he was on would go faster if he got out and pushed, he would not miss the trains. He was even seriously considering chucking out all of his toy ones.)

"Eric," L started suddenly using the name he'd decided on that morning, "Do you have a copy of Dr Lidner's report?"

Near nodded and handed the file on the seat next to him over. The Scouser(2)-by-birth Southampton based forensic pathologist had been asked to survey Amane's crime scene to give a more expert opinion, and L had requested her findings in the hope that they may differ from Scotland Yard's. The only interesting thing Near could spot was that the skull fracture – the one caused directly by assault with a heavy object – would have been fatal, meaning Misa would have died even if she hadn't broken her neck falling down the stairs.

Which suggested the killer knew what they were doing.

That somewhere, somehow, they had specifically learnt how to do it.

And virtually annihilated any claims of manslaughter, self defence or insanity defences the defence wanted to run.

"Do you believe what was said about Sayu and Mello and this drug?" Near asked curiously (but very quietly. They were in public after all).

L merely shrugged. "I haven't thought about it much," he replied in an equally soft voice. That was probably a lie, Near knew, "I'm not sure how it affects the case. However if Mello and Sayu were part of this Mafia-run ring and if Misa found out then they both would have had a motive to get rid of her and the fact they were each other's alibi is worthless. And either would have had ample opportunity to learn how to kill with such an object."

"But there were cameras," Near pointed out, refraining from mentioning that as a police officer, Raito was probably just as likely to know how to kill someone with a blunt object as actors and medical students were. L's impartiality where Raito was concerned was quickly slipping.

L shrugged again. "I make it a habit not to accept anything that so conveniently exonerates a suspect until I have solid proof of its validity. And those cameras exonerate no fewer than four out of seven." He frowned slightly in concentration. "I was refused when I asked them show me what was recorded which makes it more dubious."

Near smirked. He could just see L saying 'but I'm L' when the agents said they needed those tapes for national security purposes.

"It's possible that Misora and Penber were lying, but no reason for this is apparent," L continued. "Alternatively, Matt Jeevas knew of the cameras and could have easily ghosted images faking Mello and Sayu – which would explain the refusal to allow audio recordings." He shook his head again, "But again, there's no obvious reason as to why he should. And then, apparently they were only able to implement one camera with lots of blind spots, and none in the bathroom. But still they insist that any exchange did not take place..." The detective gave a frustrated sigh that was most unlike him, "That's what I don't like about this case, the pieces don't fit and there are too many ifs and maybes. We need proof."

"Which is why we're off to Winchester." Near stated. L gave a ghost of a smile and nodded.

* * *

Near looked up at the rather imposing gates on arriving at the Jeevases' country home. Travelling with L had given him some experience with wealth but even so he couldn't help but be impressed by how large it was.

"The gates are locked," L said, after tugging on them. He looked somewhat surprised by this. Because it was obviously standard practice for millionaires to go away, sometimes for weeks at a time, and give anyone and everyone access to their house and everything in it.

Near couldn't exactly see what his boss was doing (as he had been told to keep a look out so nosy members of the public didn't call the police upon witnessing their activity) but thirty seconds later there was an audible click and the gates were open.

There was a similar routine with the front door, and L disarmed the burglar alarm easily enough too. It was amazing, the skill-set required to be the best detective in the world. It seemed to be remarkably close to that needed for 'master thief'. Safely inside, L disappeared off somewhere while Near wandered aimlessly around the downstairs. Neither of the couple had grown up wealthy, and their house reflected it. The furniture and upholstery were tasteful but certainly did not look ridiculously expensive.

"Find anything?" Near asked when L returned.

L shook the plastic bag in his hand. "I'll have this examined later," he said, refusing to give anymore hints.

Together, they then took the stairs to the first floor(3) landing. "So this is where the body was found," Near said, looking at a spot on the cream coloured carpet where a slight pinkish stain – all that remained of Amane's blood – was just visible.

L nodded thoughtfully. "But it isn't where the crime was committed," he said, looking up the narrower stairs straight in front of them to where Misa had been attacked.

"Amane's skull fracture caused by attack with an ornament was situated on the right side of the head towards the back," Now on the second floor, L read the case report, held delicately between two fingers. He looked up, "There is over a eighty five percent chance that she was snuck up on from behind, considering the absence of a scream or evidence of a physical struggle. Which means that there is a seventy-two percent chance that when she was attacked she was looking out of this window."

Near thought 'glass wall' was more accurate than 'window' considering it's size. It started where the staircase finished, and gave an excellent view not only of the patio and garden below but the beautiful surrounding countryside. England – all of Great Britain honestly – was very green, but the hills here in Hampshire really were special.

Of course, Amane should not have been able to see that lovely view just before her death as when she was murdered (around 2am on Tuesday 5th February) it would have been dark outside. Anything she _might_ have witnessed could only have been illuminated from lights left on downstairs. Which all should have been turned off...

He was distracted by the sight of his employer _jumping down the stairs_ one by one. L appeared to be using as much force (and hence generating as much noise) as was physically possible.

"What are you doing?" Near asked, utterly perplexed.

L ignored his question. "I need you to go into every room a suspect was staying in, and tell me if you can hear me while I bounce." L handed his assistant an upstairs plan of the house, with the names of the suspects printed on the individual rooms.

"Where's Mr and Mrs Jeevas' room?" Near asked, failing to find the names on the plan.

"They sleep downstairs," L replied, giving him another sheet with their room marked on it. "Now get to it."

"You're just enjoying jumping down the stairs, aren't you?" Near said, feeling uncharacteristically confrontational.

L nodded just a bit sheepishly.

"Try not to break anything."

Near started by going into the room Mikami had stayed in, as it was closest. Straining his ears, he could just about make out a series of about ten quiet bumps, no doubt caused by L's antics.

"Well?" L asked five minutes later when Near had repeated this sequence of events and listened to his employer's bouncing in every room.

Near shook his head. "It's very hard to hear you. In the closest rooms, Mikami's and Yagami/Amane's," he said as he checked his plan, "You can hear some thudding but that's all. In the other rooms it's so soft it's all but impossible."

L nodded sagely. "Now we're going to do exactly the same thing while running a bath."

"Why?" Near asked, despite knowing L would look at him as though he was stupid again. He had always thought it better to be considered stupid than be totally clueless.

Of course, here L would consider the answer so obvious he wouldn't bother to state it aloud.

This time, Near started in Matt and Kiyomi's room on the second storey. He nodded slightly to himself as he heard the soft sound of water rushing through pipes. It had been really almost impossible to hear L imitating Misa's fall from this room but the sound of a bath being drawn was quiet but still audible, though hardly startling.

Repeating this in the other rooms, he soon reported back to L, who was looking slightly tired, Near thought, probably from running back upstairs after jumping down them.

"It's definitely easier to hear the bath," Near said. "It completely disguises any thudding, but it isn't really necessary."

"So why draw a bath?" L mused. "Why risk running a bath which more people will hear, and probably wake up because of than just hitting the girl? The sounds induced are not really sufficient to wake someone…" He lapsed into silence while Near shrugged, twiddling his snowy-white hair. He had his own ideas, just like he was sure L had his, but while L wasn't sharing neither was he.

* * *

Washing dishes after lunch Raito decided that even if all L managed to do was find more evidence that convicted him he would always be grateful to the detective for giving him hope. Realistically he knew that if said hope was brutally crushed then perhaps such kind feelings would fade and die but at the moment that, quite simply, was how it seemed to him. That hope was certainly better than having to face the long hard years that followed with no hope of the respite of parole or a reduced sentence. He supposed he should be thankful to his father for asking L (and he was, to Soichiro's face when he came to see him at the weekend with Sayu – his mother was strangely absent and the reason for this made bile rise in his throat…He crushed that thought angrily). But L…L certainly didn't have to say yes.

His thoughts about the detective were now becoming so consuming that it was downright distressing. And that menial tasks such as carpentry and washing plates did not occupy his mind as they did his hands was not helping. So he had to concentrate on the case instead.

After thinking about it long and hard, Raito had to admit that simply because Mello had something to hide it did not necessarily make him a murderer. After all, there could be some perfectly legitimate explanation as to why he was…going downstairs at 3:30 am.

It didn't have to be because he knew he'd find the body there.

(And besides, his sister said he'd been with her up until that time – the reason for which was not one he wanted to think about – and there was _no way_ she could have been lying. Was there?)

(Thinking about it rationally, which he could only do when he forced himself, that would mean Sayu was protecting Mello, something that she would only do if she was in love with him.)

(Which was, really, a whole lot more frightening than simply realising Mello was a murderer.)

(Although it was all academic really because he couldn't prove any of it.)

No, no, he was getting too caught up in it all, he needed to dispassionately examine the facts, just like L would. And the facts remained that Mello had said he'd found his cousin's body lying _in his way_. Indeed, considering the darkness that night it seemed impossible for him to have spotted it from anywhere else. However, why was it in his way? Or rather, why was his way where it was?

Because Mello said he had been going back from Sayu's room to his own when he encountered it. But Misa's body was on the floor below. So why was Mello going down those stairs?

It could of course have been something perfectly innocent. No – not perfectly innocent (such as wanting a glass of water from the kitchen for instance) as Mello would have admitted it at trial. But, still it could be totally harmless.

Like Mello merely sneaking into the kitchen to steal a couple of bars of chocolate.

Looking at it objectively Raito had to admit it was hardly unlikely.

Or…could he have been going downstairs to see someone?

And then things magically appeared to fall into place. _Takada…_he thought with a half-smile, _I never thought you were the sort of person to have an affair… Just goes to show._

His smirk vanished, and was replaced with a rather more confused expression. What, exactly, was this going to mean for his baby sister?

* * *

"Near," L said, a ghost of a smile playing on his pale features, evidently deciding to put aside this latest dilemma for another day, "Let's split up and look for clues." Near flushed slightly and turned away. Ever since he had let slip that the large Scooby Doo stuffed animal was his favourite toy L had taken to making sporadic comments like that.

L was searching the guest bedrooms on the second floor but Near had decided to remain on the first. Of all the rooms situated here by far the most interesting was Matt and Takada's separate studies. Takada's contained very little of interest – a few photos, including one from graduation and one from her wedding, a bunch of fresh pink gladioli and a guide to Istanbul on the desk (from the looks of things she was planning a holiday. With everything that had happened lately, Near couldn't say he blamed her). Searching the drawers revealed only a stapler, hole punch and various pens. He suspected that her more private information – credit card details and the like – were kept in the Jeevas' other house back in Chelsea(4).

Near had left Matt's study to begin with as his experience in the man's office in London had forewarned him of the tip it was likely to be. Still, he was surprised by the sheer quantity of stuff that Matt had managed to fill his study with. In addition to the piles of paper everywhere, Matt also appeared to be a serial souvenir collector and the shelves were decorated with shiny, pretty things most of which could not have been bought in Britain for love nor money.

Near sighed and started shifting through the papers, choosing a pile at random. Matt was evidently the sort of person who believed that because paper is stacked it is organised and neat and therefore can be forgotten. After leafing through the stacks he turned his attention to the desk. A computer dominated half of it and some sort of games console (which he unsurprisingly didn't recognise) was on the other.

He focused on the drawers instead, pulling on the handle of the top one.

Locked.

Near twirled his hair thoughtfully. Matt Jeevas obviously had no fear of someone stealing his latest ideas (as they were displayed all over the room on about a zillion of bits of paper) and surely any vital documents he needed all the time (banking details etc) would be kept in Chelsea with his wife's.

Which meant that Near was very curious to see what was kept here under lock and key.

"L," Near called for help. He just wasn't good enough to leave no trace of forced entry on the drawer. And, considering both the homeowners were murder suspects here, the last thing either of them wanted to do was tip them off that they'd 'had a look around.'

L arrived in the study surprisingly quickly. "Servants' stairs," he replied when Near asked how he'd got there so fast. L then got the drawer open without any ado after again discreetly fiddling around with the lock. He took whatever was in there out, looking at it questioningly, black eyes enormous.

"What is it?" Near asked. This was _his_ clue after all, at least as far as he was concerned.

"Cheque stubs." L said, examining the perforated ends carefully. "Take a look." He handed the first one to Near. At first glance nothing was unordinary. Just a normal counterfoil for a NatWest(5) chequebook. Flicking through the pages though his eyes widened.

_Pay: T Mikami 5,000 pounds 15/12/07_

And then again, about five pages later, this time dated 19/01/08. _Pay: T Mikami 5,000 pounds._

L handed him another cheque stub, this time from mid February to May, always paying five thousand pounds to a Mr Teru Mikami around the middle of the month.

Blackmail.

Or at the very least, Matt was paying Mikami off.

But on what grounds?

"Near," L began, "When abouts did Mr Mikami investigate Mr Jeevas?"

Near knew the answer just as L did. "Late November last year," he replied slowly.

"We need to get back to London," L continued urgently. "Question Jeevas and Mikami again and find out who knew about their arrangement and what was behind it. I think I'll talk to them this time. Set-"

L's phone went off. "Hello?" he said sharply on picking it up. He paused, blinking twice. "Yes…right…definitely? All right then…I see…Don't touch anything, we'll be right there…thank you." He hung up.

"That plan will now have to be scrapped unfortunately." L turned his enormous black eyes to meet Near's, looking uncharacteristically grave. "Matt Jeevas is dead. Suicide."

* * *

Yeah I'm evil I know.

Apologies for lack of updating. All I can say is that RL things got hectic and then there was Writers' Block plus the fear that this was too obvious (especially after the _very_ impressive responses I got last chapter. Seriously, I'm beginning to suspect some readers could honestly give L a run for his money).

Special thanks to Akito-Aya who beta'd this for me (again, and quickly too) and pointed out to me that repeated rants about trains and buses really were not so very entertaining!!

Please review this. I'm not entirely happy with it (especially the first half), so I'd really appreciate knowing what you made of it. Thank you to Paon, chrono-contract, love lawliet, Kirikouchan, icyhiei, silvertongued, metal-mako-dragon, The Sacred Pandapuff, fantasies4eva and MiaoShou. And well done to those who noticed the problem in Mello's story, or any problems at all.

(1) M3 – this is the motorway that runs from London to Southampton, and goes by Winchester. Winchester, strangely enough, has two junctions (as opposed to just one) all to itself. Numbers 10 and 11 if you really want to know.

(2) Scouser – person from Liverpool. Don't ask me why Halle is from Liverpool. It just sort of happened really.

(3) First floor – in the UK, this is the one above the ground floor. The second floor is the one above this.

(4) Chelsea – most expensive (residential) part of London, with the possible exception of Mayfair. Either way, it's where Takada and Matt's London house is.

(5) NatWest – big British bank.

Weird thing I spotted: does anyone else think Mello looks like a young Boris Johnson? For those of you who don't know, Boris is London's mayor. Personally I think he's wasted as Mayor of London and would be far better back on 'Have I Got News For You' talking about coconuts. But that's just me.


	7. Chapter 6: Aftermath

OK, if you've read the earlier chapters of this and are still reading this I admire your perseverance. I suppose everyone wants an answer to 'where **have** you been?' Short answer – I started university (in October). My course is really quite nastily intense, so that's why I couldn't update before December. However, said university dumped mocks on me first week back, so I was revising for a lot of Christmas. Plus I was away for 2 weeks and otherwise doing normal Christmassy things such as entertaining family members. Now, however, I've finished my exams, and for this weekend at least have no additional commitments.

Yeah, I've never been down Kings Road in Chelsea. The other location details are accurate (bus time may vary with London traffic or whether you manage to catch the right bus). I did manage to get to Sloane Square recently though. Eventually. I'll tell you, London buses in a borough you're not familiar with are a nightmare. And I have little reason to go to Chelsea. Hell, these days I have little reason to go to London.

* * *

Kings Road in Chelsea, London. Just off Sloane Square(1), and barely a five-minute bus journey from Knightsbridge(2). Also the location of the late Mr Jeevas' town house.

Nice place Near thought, although in all honesty the pathologists and paparazzi around did detract from the scenery just a bit. Unsurprisingly, Matt Jeevas' death was causing a lot of media hype and the pathologists did not want to screw up, or else the media would have a field day.

Disguised in a pathologist's gown and mask (there was no way he'd pass as a paparazzo and besides they weren't allowed inside) he slipped into the townhouse unchallenged, before making his way to Matt's study where his body had been found earlier that day.

Walking around it, carefully ensuring that the camera built into the headpiece of his gown got a good view of the room Near decided that this study wasn't very different to its counterpart down in Winchester – awfully messy and cluttered with ornaments. Except now it was also cluttered with people.

The man of the hour, Matt Jeevas himself was still sat in his chair but sprawled out over his desk, vibrant green eyes forever closed. The orange-lensed goggles were still perched on his head and thick strands of red hair hung obscured his face just as they had during his life time, but even so: there was no mistaking the corpse for what it was. A corpse. Near felt a flicker of sadness for the very young, very likeable man he'd spoken to less than two weeks before.

A couple of pathologists were studying something rather intently. Walking carefully over, he saw a ripped and scrunched up scrap of paper with messy (but legible) writing on it that Near recognised as Matt's from the Winchester trip was what was being fervently examined.

Oh, so here it was, Near thought dimly as they grudgingly handed the shabby piece of paper to him. The suicide note. He held it up to the camera so L could see it, but it looked fairly standard at least, although he would have thought that as a millionaire Matt could have afforded nicer writing paper.

He handed it back to the nearest white-gowned pathologist who took it eagerly before moving back towards the body. An empty glass tumbler was just by Matt's (the deceased's) right hand; Near quickly swabbed the inside of this. Everyone was inferring that rohypnol (a pot with Matt's – the deceased's – very recent fingerprints on had been found) had been dissolved in whiskey which he had then drunk. Evidently a blood sample had already confirmed that this was indeed the cause of death.

Near opened one of the desk's drawers, searching it for – well what exactly he wasn't sure but he expected he'd know it when he came across it. Car registration details, bank statements, certificates, law books, blu-tac, pens. All in all very little of any interest whatsoever. It was a little strange however that those incriminating counterfoils were found in the study in Winchester. Near thought about this for a moment; Matt probably wanted to reduce the chances of his wife finding out. He made a mental note to speak to Kiyomi as soon as possible.

"The wife's upstairs if you want to talk to her," said a soft voice in his ear, leaning over him as he crouched down in front of the very uninteresting bottom drawer. Near nodded.

Kiyomi Takada-Jeevas (should he still include the Jeevas bit, now that Matt was dead and they were no longer technically married) was lying on her – previously their – bed with her head buried in her husband's pillow. Near tentatively put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched harshly and then sat up.

Her face was covered in tear-tracks and her eyes bloodshot and conspicuously make-up free, but she still managed to show signs of the poise that had made her such a success as a news anchor.

"Hello," she said after a moment probably spent making sure she could speak without her voice breaking.

"Mrs Jeevas," Near started. "I'm very sorry, but I need to ask you a few questions."

She gave a little hiccup in acquiescence. "Can we do it somewhere else?" she asked timidly. "It's just I can't – really I can't – stay here."

He agreed. In a café nearby they sat down. "Did you notice any indication that your husband was suicidal?" he began.

Kiyomi shook her head. "No, I mean, I was visiting a friend down in Bournemouth(3) for the past few days. Only got back last night. Maybe Matt did seem a little down but I couldn't imagine he'd take his own life."

"Was there anything specific that could have triggered it?" Near asked thoughtfully, fiddling with his hair.

She shrugged. "Like I say, I've been away. There was nothing that I knew about before that though. And he didn't go to the TV studio today – wasn't needed, said he was going to play with a few ideas," She suddenly leant forward. "You don't think…It's probably very silly but there's no way it could have been a murder could it?"

Near thought about it. Considering the presence of the suicide note in Matt Jeevas' own hand, the fingerprints, the pills, the glass, the blackmail (which he was keeping quiet about in front of the wife), the fact Matt had died in his study. "The probability is less than two percent that it was," he droned.

Kiyomi nodded gravely.

* * *

Suicide.

The coroner had returned a verdict of suicide. And considering the evidence L considered it more than likely.

_I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry but I just can't go on living such a lie. All I want to do now is the right thing and try to correct the mistakes I've made and this is the only solution that I can think of. I know I've done awful things and I don't expect any forgiveness or absolution. I only hope you can find someone better after I'm gone, and pray you understand, ending it all is the best thing to do._

_Love,_

_Matt_

He handed the note – a copy, actually. Near had resourcefully managed to obtain the original but had no way of getting it to his boss so soon – across the table between them to Raito. L had returned to Woodhill Prison for another discussion with the convicted murderer, and the two were sequestered in the same room that they had been before.

"But don't you see?" Raito exclaimed happily after reading the words on the tatty paper, smiling at the man sitting across from him. "This gives reasonable doubt. It's like Matt's confessing to Misa's murder." L merely gave him a dark look, cutting off Raito's next remark which would have been something along the lines of 'and it gets me off.'

"Yagami-kun deeply misinterprets my character if he thinks that simply because we have something which possibly could be roughly construed as a confession he will be acquitted imminently," L replied coldly. Raito inadvertently flinched – not from that harsh tone but from the underlying disappointment. "So far as I see it all we have now is another body."

"But it's a suicide," Raito pointed out, trying to restore L's good opinion which had come to mean so much to him. "We have a suicide note written in Matt's own writing, we have glass of whiskey also on the desk with Matt's fingerprints all over it found to contain traces of rohypnol. There's a whiskey bottle and a packet of pills – found to be rohypnol, God knows how he got it – also with very recent fingerpr-"

"Jeevas had problems with drugs during his time at university," L cut him off, "Penber confirmed that he had to redo a year due to a stint in rehab."

"Well there you go," Raito added. "He knew about drugs, probably got rohypnol when he was a junkie then hung onto it. And he'd've known what he had to take in order to OD successfully. So it's a suicide."

"I never said it wasn't a suicide," L pointed out monotonously, "Raito-kun has overlooked the fact I merely stated that this isn't a confession." He shot the inmate a poison-filled look. "Raito-kun is rather ill-advisedly grasping at straws. And he is rather too glad about the death of a man whom I thought he liked. The chance of him being a murderer himself has now risen slightly," he added spitefully.

"I suppose he had reason to commit suicide," Raito started uncertainly after a long pause. "Apart from escaping a murder conviction, I mean. I think Mello was sleeping with his wife for–"

"Wait a moment," L butt in sharply, recent spite forgotten. "From what you told me Kiyomi Takada-Jeevas' behaviour on the night of the murder is not that of a woman intending to spend the night with a man who is not her husband."

Raito's eyes narrowed slightly. "How so?"

"On the night of the murder you told me Mrs Jeevas drank most of a bottle of wine by herself, and as a result was more than slightly unsteady. Now, if she had prearranged assignations then why would she incapacitate herself by reaching a state of mild (or not so mild) intoxication?"

"Guilt," Raito replied simply. "Takada – sorry, Mrs Jeevas," he corrected himself, "Isn't the sort to take extramarital sex lightly; I know her better than you, remember?" he cut L off. "She'd need something to take the edge off her own betrayal, or give herself an excuse for avoiding it completely."

L bit his thumb again, considering Raito's words. "But where would Mello and Kiyomi have conducted this affair. I have not heard of them meet-"

"-Oh, God I've been so **stupid**!" Raito exclaimed.

L's eyes widened even further. "You mean-" he trailed off, reaching the same conclusion as Raito smiled grimly.

"Mello was sleeping with Matt."

* * *

"Hey!" a voice called out as Near left Kiyomi's house after escorting her back to it. He looked up. A voluptuous blonde woman wearing dark glasses and little else was sunning herself on the balcony next door.

"Do you have a moment?" she asked, leaning over the railings.

"Why?" Near called back.

She disappeared from view without a reply. A few moments later and her front door opened. "You are a detective, aren't you? A private one?" she questioned, head askew. He nodded slightly. "Come in," she said breathlessly, returning inside. After a brief moment spent assessing the likelihood she was an assassin after L etc. (unlikely) he followed her.

"You see," she started, leading him into her kitchen where she made him a cup of tea. "I was on the balcony this morning and I couldn't help but notice that Mr Jeevas had a couple of rather strange visitors."

Oh dear, thought Near. This was evidently the society busybody who kept tabs on everyone. And probably found the whole suicide-next-door thing _absolutely thrilling_.

"Did you see who they were? And just why are you on the balcony?" he asked neutrally. Her very public balcony. Wearing an extremely revealing black bikini. In front of the entire neighbourhood.

"Yes I did," she replied. "And since it's such nice weather and I was working from home I thought I might as well sunbathe, especially as my ex has the kids at the moment," she continued, just a tad defensively. (Kids? With that figure? Kids?) "God only knows the sunshine probably won't last long. I'm a journalist, by the way," she added. So this conversation would probably end up in a national paper. Wonderful.

"You're Wedy," he remembered the penname of one of The Observer's most popular reporters.

"It's Mary Kenwood when it's not in print," she replied with a toss of her straightened bleach-blonde locks.

"I read you from time to time, you know?" he asked. "You're very accurate."

She actually laughed at that. "Yes well anyway," she began, "I was hoping that in exchange for my information you might give me something in return."

Near instantly stiffened. Then relaxed; no, she wasn't propositioning him. She wanted information for her paper -obviously. "Like what?" he asked.

"Hmmm..." she mused, tapping one long scarlet fingernail against unblemished porcelain skin. She asked him a few, mostly irrelevant questions to which he gave evidently satisfactory answers. And then Near opened his own notebook to take down whatever information she could tell him.

"Well anyway," Wedy began, "There was a tall, dark haired man – I think he was there when Misa Amane was murdered, yes that's right, he was, because I interviewed him. You know, the computer programmer. Dear God, what was his name..."

"Penber?" Near cut in, remembering Raye's fake job.

Wedy nodded. "Yes, that's the one." She took a deep breath. "And then there was a gardener a bit later."

"Gardener?" Near asked. Whilst the Jeevases' house was not wildly overgrown it wasn't neatly pruned.

She nodded again. "That's what's so strange about it. They never had anyone do the gardening before. But he had a rake and a bucket with tools and went round the back so I can't think who else it could have been."

"Could you see his face?"

She shook her head, "He was wearing a hat because of the sun. And he was facing away from me." She paused. "Sorry."

Near forced something like a smile. "That's fine. You've been very helpful." Penber. What did Penber have to do with anything?

He smiled softly. Maybe this case was getting interesting.

* * *

_Mello was sleeping with Matt._

As a revelation it seemed stunning. That the quiet, kind, geeky (and let's not forget **married**) Matt Jeevas had been having an affair with loud, angry, slightly psychopathic Mello Keehl...it was just remarkable.

"Do you think Takada knew?" L asked Raito, after the two had spent several minutes musing on the implications of this.

Raito shook his head. "She would publicly expose him, sue him for everything, and then leave with her head held high." He saw L wince. Vindictive much?

Raito grinned suddenly, slotting more pieces of the jigsaw together; "Mikami visited the set of Death Note when filming started in November 2007 to question Matt on those ridiculous charges. Mello would have been there. The first cheque is dated December 2007 so-"

"Mikami knew about the affair," L finished blandly. "And was blackmailing them about it." He flipped open his phone and dialled a number.

"Near," he ordered. "I need you to question Mikami again immediately. Find out whether the blackmail was due to an affair conducted between Jeevas and Keehl."

L heard Near inhale slightly, but otherwise there was – characteristically – no reaction.

"_Penber visited Jeevas on the morning of his death. So did a gardener," _Near replied.

"Then you need to catch the next available train to Northampton from Euston Station(4)," L continued as if Near had not spoken.

"_Why?"_

"Go to the following address," L announced, once again ignoring Near before reciting said address. Then he hung up.

"Why Northampton, exactly?" Raito asked. L smiled and explained.

"I should probably be going," L muttered, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Do you have to?"

Stunned, L turned to look at Raito, who had now gone very red. "I...only mean because...you're the only...person I can, you know..."

Calm, clever Raito Yagami, blushing like a school girl with a crush. It was rather cute.

"You can what, Raito?" L asked, leaning forwards.

Raito kissed him on the lips.

* * *

"Can I help you?" the woman at the reception of the law firm where Mikami worked asked Near when he went in.

He showed his ID. "I need to speak with Teru Mikami immediately."

To her credit she didn't question him and merely made a quick phone call. "He says to go to his office. It's on the third floor, room number 11.

After an uneventful lift ride Near knocked loudly on the office door. The tall lawyer opened it. He did not look especially pleased to see L's assistant. "Come in," he said.

Near entered Mikami's office, and took a double take. Everything was just so...so ordered. He smirked. The lawyer was evidently something of a closet obsessive compulsive. (Closet referring to the size of the room, of course).

Mikami motioned for him to sit on the one chair in front of his desk.

"The charges brought against Mr Jeevas' business were dropped rather abruptly after you visited him, wouldn't you agree?" Near started softly.

Mikami snorted. "Those charges were ridiculous. Work related upper limb disorder? For a games tester? The guy was just fishing for some extra dosh(5) as compensation."

"And you find that contemptible?" Near asked softly. "That a man did all he could to attain some additional money?"

Mikami's almost reddish eyes narrowed slightly. It was a slight reaction, but Near didn't miss it. "Well anyway," Mikami continued quickly, "Once I decided there was no basis for these charges, they were dropped. No point taking someone to trial who shouldn't get found guilty."

Near nodded absently.

"Tell me, Mr Mikami, if you can, what these are," Near dumped the counterfoils for the cheques Matt had paid him onto the desk.

Mikami went dead white.

"Just what are you playing at?" Mikami asked through clenched teeth, using outrage to hide the fear while he thought of a way out of this.

"Mr Mikami, Mello Keehl was also present when you questioned Matt Jeevas. This is also shortly before the time when the first cheque was paid. Yes?"

Mikami closed his eyes and looked down. Near continued, "You do realise that the sentence for blackmail includes a prison sentence. You also realise what happens to lawyers who go to jail."

Mikami's breathing grew heavy. He rested his head on his elbows with his hands in his hair, and pulled at it erratically. He let out a strangled noise. Near was faintly alarmed, but then the lawyer sat up, eyes gleaming madly.

"All right, fine I admit it, I was blackmailing him!" yelled Mikami. "What did it matter, he was loaded! He could afford to pay." His voice dropped, becoming far more menacing, "Bastard didn't deserve it though. Here I am slaving away – forget nine to five – more like seven till ten!" The prosecutor let out a hysterical shriek that might have been laughter. "And he dreams up a couple of stupid kiddie games and, bloody hell, he's a millionaire!"

"Did Misa Amane know?" Near asked.

"Not unless that whore of a cousin of hers told her," Mikami said spitefully. "No one knew about the blackmail, just me, Jeevas and Keehl."

"So the blackmail was about their relationship," Near confirmed.

The lawyer nodded, whilst inhaling deeply, needing to re inflate after his impressive ranting. "I saw them together, when I came to question Jeevas. Him with his beautiful wife as well, and he was just lying on top...straddling that...that _actor_," he spat the word out like it was something nasty. "I took a photo on my phone, before either of them could do anything. More than one actually. I wrote to Jeevas saying that unless he paid me five thousand a month it would go to the papers. Tried doing the same with Keehl, but he just laughed. Said if I tried, I'd go to prison for blackmail. After all there's nothing illegal about having an affair. Jeevas though – he had more to lose – Kiyomi for starters. So he paid."

"Matt Jeevas is dead."

"Keehl probably did it. Stupid bastard finally realised Jeevas would never leave his wife and just..."

"What makes you think it's a murder Mr Mikami?" Near cut him off. "All the reports so far said it was a suicide."

* * *

L's phone rang. He looked at the number, feeling disappointed when he realised it wasn't from Woodhill. "Yes?" he asked.

"L?" the woman on the other end of the line paused until he confirmed that he was who she thought he was. Her phone now would have to be destroyed but she probably already knew that. "I'm just calling to say that you can have a copy of those tapes."

He thanked her duly, before agreeing with her a way for him to receive them. "Okay," she said, "I'll send them right over. Good b-"

"What are you still doing here, Naomi Misora?" he asked her sharply. "Your own case appears to be at a standstill, and you are far too able an agent for the FBI not to be missing your presence."

Silence. Naomi was evidently stunned.

"And going back further, why did you want to come to England – and to Winchester – in the first place?" His tone was still very harsh, almost accusing. "And why leave Japan when you could have had a very promising career in the NPA?"

She did not reply. "I…I have to go," she eventually said after a long pause. "I'll get those tapes to you as soon as possible." And then Naomi hung up.

L smiled thinly. _Just as planned_.

* * *

Firstly to everyone who reviewed: The Sacred Pandapuff, Gabi Howard (and yes, he totally does), Bonzai Bunny, maria, Black-Dranzer-1119, noir fluer, Paon, Devil's Melody, Ren, redfoxmoon, infalliableangel, Andaliia, bookenworum (very little research in this actually. It's mainly just a product of too many years watching detective fiction on the TV and living in England) and berkie88 (who really was amazing and worked out the Matt and Mello were having an affair). Thank you all so so so much!! Seriously, if not for you then this probably would never have been written. If any of you are sticking with this...thanks again. Also thanks to everyone who favourited/alerted. Especially if you did so yonks after this was last updated, which reminded me that, yes, I did have to continue writing this. However, I can't promise when my next update will be.

And of course, a big big thank you goes out to Akito-Aya who found time to beta this despite her own equally daunting work load.

GAH!!! We're back to bloody questioning!! No no no no no no no no no no!!! This is not at all what I wanted. Sorry for out of character Mikami. In my defence a man who could convince himself that murder was ok could easily decide that it was justifiable to blackmail a man cheating on his wife. And as entertaining as sexy!Wedy intimidating Near would be, I sort of like her as being this ditzy mother figure who still sunbathes on her balcony in front of the entire street in a bikini. So yeah, sorry that she's out of character.

(1) Sloane Square – square in London although less well known/big as Leicester and Trafalgar Squares. It's got Peter Jones (upmarket branch of John Lewis which is a bit like Macy's in the US) and a theatre in it.

(2) Knightsbridge – expensive London borough where Harrods and Harvey Nicholls are. These are both big, expensive department stores, which are the location of many big, bankrupting shopping trips. This is completely unimportant as far as the plot goes.

(3) Bournemouth – seaside resort on the south coast in Dorset (which is a county in England). It's got lots of clubs. And beaches.

(4) Northampton – town which is, oh I don't know, about 60 miles north of London. You get to it on the train from Euston which is a big London station like Paddington (although without the Paddington at Paddington concessions).

(5) Dosh – money. Finally one of these which isn't to do with English geography.

If no one cares/reads these then tell me and I'll stop.


	8. Chapter 7

A/N: So it's the usual thanks for the reviews and sorry for the slow update. Excuses here would be just that – excuses – and really, you guys deserve better than that. So all I will say is sorry and please enjoy! (But if you did want excuses I have a horrible course and weekends are a work fest).

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Apart from a mostly eaten packet of nougat*, a fluffy flamingo pen, a bit of cereal and a printer with no black ink (so all my work is now done in blue).

Raito: She's left me in prison for a YEAR!!! A whole bloody year!!

Me: Actually, Misa was murdered on 05/02/08 (because that's my sister's birthday so I accurately knew what day of the week it was). So it's actually closer to two years now. If I ever rewrite this, I'll change all the dates so it looks more convincing. *Turns to readers* for the meantime, pretend this chapter is set sometime in summer '08. (This was meant to be my summer project before starting uni in the September of that year. It got a bit out of hand. To the extent that I quizzed my pharmacology professor on how to mask a drugs test result. He was a bit concerned).

This chapter is dedicated to Persefone88, purely because they added this story to their alerts and so I got an email that reminded me that I should really finish this bloody chapter. And then Shi-koi did the same thing 6 months later, in which time I'd made no progress save ironing out a few problems (I think). And to LIN and freefall gypsy, who liked this enough to beg and did succeed in reminding one little girl that maybe she could be a full time student and get the next part of this up. (Particularly as it has been mostly finished for a worryingly long time). It is a nice long chapter though. Five thousand words if you can believe it.

Ooh!! There is an exciting POLL!! A WHODUNNIT POLL!!! GO VOTE!! I really want to know what you all think. But please leave me a nice review too

.

As always, special thanks go to Akito-Aya who is still the most amazing beta.

*mostly eaten packet is now an entirely eaten packet. So, technically, I just own a wrapper.

* * *

Near looked up at the end of terrace house the taxi-driver had driven him to from Northampton Station. The front garden was in a bit of a shambles and the building itself looked as if it could do with a lick of paint – if only to cover up the graffiti. He subtly checked the address as the same as the one L had given him. After confirming it was, he rang the doorbell.

"Hello?" The woman who opened the door was old - seventy at least - but tall as opposed to stooped with neatly cut white hair. Her wrinkled face was marred by an eye patch from recent cataract surgery but still retained traces of what must have been great good looks. She looked at him strangely, and then her grey gaze softened as she took in his appearance. What was it, Near wondered, about the way he looked that made old ladies want to trust him?

"Pauline Remley?" he asked. "Is your grandson in?"

Mrs Remley nodded. "Yes, of course," she replied not without a touch of suspicion. "I'm not entirely sure he's up, however, but you might as well come in." She led him to a small, cluttered but cosy sitting room at the back of the house which overlooked a sunny garden.

"Mihael!" she called upstairs. Near heard an answering grunt coming from somewhere above him. "You've got a visitor."

"Oh hello again," the blonde said mildly (mildly! Something was definitely wrong), when he appeared three minutes later before walking over and sitting cross-legged in the armchair opposite Near. Mello looked much the worse for wear since their last conversation. His golden hair was in total disarray and those blue eyes were puffy – only wearing a rumpled pair of once black flannel pyjamas with a matching dressing gown and despondently munching on a half eaten bar of Galaxy chocolate. But what really got Near was the hint of total despair written over his face.

"Have you come to arrest me?" the blonde asked simply.

What?

That sounded like a confession.

"Why would we do that?" Near asked, calm as ever.

Mello shrugged not looking Near in the face, "As an accomplice to murder, or at least obstructing justice, committing perjury? Ringing any bells?"

No was the honest answer.

Mello's weary blue eyes bravely met Near's. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked in a small, tired voice that didn't suit him. No, thought Near, not really. "Matt killed Misa. And then he killed himself out of guilt."

"…What?" was all Near could manage. "How do you know that?"

Mello shrugged. "It makes sense. I mean, you knew about Matt and me, right?"

Near was about to answer, when the blonde suddenly put a fine white finger to his lips. Mrs Remley entered the room with a tray complete with two cups of tea and a plate of biscuits. Near thanked her politely but inside he felt disappointed. Couldn't she have interrupted at a better time?

"Well did you?" the actor prompted quietly once his 'Nanna Rem' had left them alone once more.

Near nodded, "Yes, we worked it out." Mello gave him a questioning look, for once evidently feeling that speaking wasn't compulsory. "After we noticed the inconsistency in your statement." He hoped Raito wouldn't mind him taking credit but mentioning Yagami's name around the blonde probably wasn't the best idea.

"What was that?" Mello asked with a frown that seemed a little too suitable to be entirely genuine. Near reminded himself that the man was an actor after all.

Near smirked thinly. "I think you already noticed. You said you encountered your cousin's body _in your way _i.e. in your direct path. However this isn't possible if you were just returning from Sayu's room to yours – they were on the same floor and Misa was found on the landing below. So therefore you were visiting someone on the lower floor. Add this to the fact that Matt said Misa wasn't _his type_ and Sayu said she wasn't _your type_. It wasn't hard to work out the two of you were having an affair."

Mello shrugged, "Yeah well. Anyway, I met Misa for coffee in Selfridges the day before we all went down to Winchester. I told her about how Matt and I were together – or at least sleeping together." He said the last brazenly, as if daring the other man to blush. "And she took it well actually. Didn't call me a home-wrecker or anything, considering she's Kiyomi's best friend. Kiyomi has – had sorry," Mello gave a little choked sob, "No idea about us."

Near nodded in what he hoped was an understanding way and wondered whether he should offer the young man a tissue. It was beginning to look as if he desperately needed one.

"Sorry," Mello said, still sniffing. The bond between Keehl and Jeevas must have been very strong, Near decided, if it could reduce the rather gung-ho blonde to a weepy adolescent. "Yeah, and," Mello continued, "I didn't tell Matt that I'd told Misa about him and me, but he guessed anyway from the way she just kept asking him all those questions over dinner. I could tell something had upset him so I went to talk to him privately about it after dinner. He wasn't happy with me. He thought Misa would tell Kiyomi and then everything would just go to hell." Mello gave another half-sob. "So he had to silence her." He then gave a wry grin, "Seems it went to hell anyway."

Near nodded again, piecing it all together. "So Matt killed Misa to shut her up." Mello nodded in response, once again refusing to look him in the eye. Near continued, "How do you know this?"

"Well, there's a motive, and then he lied to you about being drunk at the–"

"Wait, lied about being drunk to me at dinner?" Near asked. He hadn't considered that.

"Mmhmm," Mello said (Near took that to mean yes). "He told me that he'd said he drunk a lot that night and so couldn't really remember what he and Misa talked about. But I was wat-watching him." Mello looked as if he was ready to cry again, "And he only had one or two glasses." He inhaled deeply, steadying himself with all that theatrical control. "Meanwhile Kiyomi had practically a whole bottle to herself so it would have been easy for him to slip out at night."

So far it all looked convincing. "What about you being an accomplice to murder, or misleading the police and fixing evidence?" Near droned on.

"You've got to understand," and suddenly those very blue eyes were deadly serious, "When I first saw Misa's body I was ninety percent certain Raito had done it. At least. Beyond all reasonable doubt."

"But you thought Matt might have done it," Near added, neglecting to add that that thought alone was reasonable doubt.

Mello nodded sadly. "When the prosecutor asked me if I knew of anyone else who'd had a motive to kill Misa, I said no."

Near nodded gravely in understanding. "Will you come back to London with me and allow L to question you?"

The blonde smirked thinly. "Scared you might screw it up?" he mocked showing traces of his former self.

Near took this as a yes.

"Your grandmother seems rather worried about you," Near commented idly while they both drank their tea. Tetley's (1) if Near's taste buds were correct.

Mello turned to look directly at him. "Nanna Rem has now outlived her husband, both her daughters and two of her grandchildren," he replied sadly. "I'm all she's got."

"What happened to everyone else?"

This latest death must have broken Mello's defences; where as he previously would have refused to answer he now replied listlessly. "Grandad died of a heart attack about eight years ago. Misa's mum (and dad and sister) had just been murdered in Kyoto and we think the shock just finished him off. And my mum died before that. Cancer."

"Sorry," Near replied softly. For the first time his heart went out to the blonde. Would it be appropriate to lay a hand on Mello's shoulder? Or try to comfort by stroking that pretty golden hair? (Or would he get his wrist broken if he attempted either?)

(Probably)

Either way, Near didn't like seeing this suspect (but why this suspect in particular?) look so…so…broken.

"You must be a real comfort to each other," Near said, hoping he didn't sound too wooden. Comfort wasn't really something he did.

"Well, I've been staying here when I'm not filming ever since Misa…" The blonde didn't finish. "Oh, God, and now Matt…"

Mello excused himself. Near decided to bring Mrs Remley's tray through to the kitchen. It was always good to be polite, and besides, the actor was still a suspect. Any opportunity to snoop would only be beneficial. He paused to examine a photo on the side board. Two children, the girl about seventeen, the boy a few years younger. Misa and Mello. It must have been after the time Mello and Misa had both come to live with Rem. They were already both orphans, but neither had started the careers that had led them to become household names. In short they were ordinary.

Near left the tray next to the sink, and then inconspicuously looked around. He peeked outside the back door. Lying next to it was a bucket of tools, which propped up a rake. He snooped into the hallway and examined the coats. Sure enough there was a hooded jacket with a baseball cap on top of it. Just as Wedy had described.

He smiled thinly. It looked like he'd found the 'gardener' who visited Jeevas the day he died.

But why? For twenty stolen minutes with his lover before Jeevas' lovely wife returned? Or for something rather more sinister?

Something pulled at his memory. He leafed through the recycling box looking for something, even remembering his gloves and wondering if on the off chance… And here it was, a letter addressed to Mr M Keehl dated two days before Jeevas' death. Written in Jeevas' distinctive hand.

He thought back to the ripped, tattered scrap of paper the suicide note had been written on, and walked back into the sitting room before drawing a pair of tweezers from his coat and crouching in front of the fireplace. It was a cliché – very Sherlock Holmes, but was that a scrap of burnt paper he saw?

Yes. _Hah!_

He phoned L immediately.

* * *

L had some suspicions concerning Mr Penber; Wedy's revelation about his visit on the day of Matt's death had only reinforced them. And, to be utterly honest, after a day of hacking into Mikami's email to find more information about the blackmail scam, for him to at least hold a conversation with another human being was something he was looking forward to.

L's computer showed him a man alone in an interrogation room. Raye had completely shaved his head. It did not suit him one bit, although it would probably help with whatever assignment he thought required it.

"Well, well, well, Mr Penber," L's electronic voice grated over the computer. He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Penber tense. "I trust you are well." Raye nodded politely. L thought it was professional to be courteous on occasion and he was nothing if not professional.

(When he wasn't thinking about a certain inmate, that was. Which was proving to be rather too often.)

He pushed the errant thought from his mind. "A witness identified you as entering Matt Jeevas' house on the day of his death. This makes it likely you were the last to see him alive."

"Nothing wrong with visiting an old friend," Raye replied cooly. L briefly admired his demeanour, but then this guy was one of the best in the Security Services(2). "The occurrences which came to pass later that day were unfortunate and unanticipated, but quite coincidental."

"What was the purpose of your visit?" L asked, inflections disguised by the computer.

Raye shrugged, "General catch up, neither of us were busy that morning."

L's eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Matt agreed to meet you? Despite committing suicide later that day?"

"Strange isn't it?" Raye agreed. "But then, the whole thing's odd. Matt never seemed to be the type to commit suicide. And he certainly didn't seem especially bothered by anything that day. Mind you, he was always quiet, and you know what they say…"

"He was on drugs whilst you were at university." L interjected. "Could this have not made him mentally unstable?"

Raye shrugged; he seemed more relaxed now the conversation was firmly focused on Jeevas. "I didn't think he was nowadays. Well, up until he...you know. He took drugs because he was depressed. Bad childhood and the like, not that he spoke about it much. It always seemed to me that he got over it. Kiyomi really helped him a lot. And besides, I doubt she would have stood for it if her husband was a junkie."

"How much did you know about his habit back then," L prodded.

"A fair amount," Raye admitted easily. "We shared a house; it was hard to be completely oblivious.

L smirked. "You were his dealer, weren't you?"

"Excuse me?" Raye replied sharply. "What, exactly are you implying?"

L hadn't really expected Raye to confess his drug habit right away but it had been worth a shot.

The detective changed the subject. "You had a drugs test recently, did you not?"

"That doesn't seem relevant," came the cool reply. "This is about Matt's suicide, not MI5's drug policy."

"Which, incidentally is renowned for being particularly strict," L shot back. "You were required to submit a blood, urine and hair sample."

"Yes," Raye replied, cool as ever. "But really I just don't understand what you're implying."

"Really?" L arched a sarcastic eyebrow, despite knowing Penber couldn't see it. "Convenient how this test occurred after you shaved your head, and hence had no hair of which to speak of." (3)

"Oh, I submitted a hair sample," Raye replied easily. "The guy who cut my hair – he's another operative – kept some back. You can ask him if you don't believe me.

"Well you certainly paid him enough to make sure that he really did stick to that story, didn't you?"

L was certain, Raye definitely gulped.

"You were very careful to make sure you weren't traced," L continued brutally. "To the extent that you paid him in cash withdrawn over a period of three weeks, so there was no massive – and hence – no really questionable withdrawal. Trouble was he wasn't quite so careful, and paid the whole sum (close to three thousand pounds) in all at once.

"Coincidence. Besides, you can check the hair sample yourself I submitted for the drugs test yourself if you like. It was found to be totally clean, as were my urine and blood samples."

"Drugs are cleared from the urine and the blood a lot faster than they are from the hair. It must have been hard for you to have stayed off them for long enough for these tests to be clean, but you managed it." Raye tried to intervene. "And about the hair sample you did submit," L went on blithely, "I ran a few tests on it myself." He paused to survey Penber's reaction. For the first time the man definitely looked scared. "As you say, it was completely free of any trace of drugs. What was surprising is that a simple DNA test showed this hair sample to come from a woman. And a Japanese one at that."

"If you're going to accuse me of something come out with it." Raye replied, sounding tired. "I'm a busy man. I don't have time to listen to such slander." Bravado, pure and simple. L was sure of it.

"How you got information of when your next drug test was I don't know. The facts remain that you had a drug habit, but unlike Mr Jeevas you didn't get over it. Or at least not entirely" L stated cruelly. Raye looked like he was about to argue but decided against it. "Neither do I know how you managed to pass any previous drugs tests, although my guess is that you stopped using for a time of several years, and only lapsed back into your old habits a few months ago. Shortly before Miss Amane was murdered. When Amane commented on the rip in your sleeve you were uneasy because of the chance that track marks would be visible beneath it." L paused to let his words sink in. "It's possible that you killed her to prevent her from realising the implications of what she saw, but for now I'll stick to what I do know. When you found out your next drug test was approaching fast you quickly went to see Matt Jeevas to ask for advice on how to pass it. He recommended staying off anything incriminating until the test so the drug had time to clear. He also recommended substituting a hair sample with that of another person. MI5 don't run DNA tests on these samples after all. So you chose to snip a few strands off Naomi Misora's head, and bribe the barber to say he'd taken it from you. Matt Jeevas was a very intelligent man and his plan succeeded perfectly. It's now my job to ascertain whether Jeevas died as a result of giving you this information"

Raye stared at the wall.

"Mr Penber, you give me no choice but to inform your superiors. Depending on what my further investigations uncover, you may yet be charged with murder, either of Misa Amane, Matt Jeevas or both. I will now terminate the conversation."

1...2...3...4...5 L counted under his breath.

"Wait!" Raye shouted, hopelessly.

"Oh?" L replied cooly.

The man had his head in his hands. "I was never his dealer," Penber started dejectedly. "If nothing else, dealing gets you a ridiculous sentence. OK, fine, I might dabble from time to time but I never…And I never killed anyone either. I liked Matt a lot. His death...it's brought me a lot of pain. Besides, it was a suicide wasn't it? And Amane, come on, I only met her that day. And she wasn't that bright – it didn't even occur to me that she'd seen the track marks."

L nodded silently.

* * *

Raito hadn't been able to find the guts to phone L after _kissing him_ (oh God, he couldn't even think it without blushing) earlier that week. Since then he'd been feeling very stupid, especially as L's reaction hadn't been particularly encouraging. The other man hadn't responded at all, or opened his mouth or even _commented_. Done nothing but blink twice, slowly, owlishly. Then wished him good day (how British) and then left.

Raito couldn't work out what he'd felt about the kiss either. L's lips were pale, dry and chapped and tasted surprisingly salty for a man who seemed to eat nothing but sweets.

However, Raito certainly wouldn't mind kissing L again…

He looked down at the phone in his hands. Before he could chicken out he dialled L's number from memory. (That in itself was embarrassing. He had never known Misa's number from memory).

_Ring…ring…ring… _"Hello Raito-kun."

Raito dropped the phone in surprise. He fumbled, blushing furiously to pick it up. "Hello." He swallowed. "L."

There was a long awkward pause.

Raito swallowed again "I was just calling to see if there was any more news." Another pause. "About the case."

"Raye Penber has a drug habit. He visited Jeevas to find out how he could pass his next drugs test." L replied in monotone.

"If MI5 knew an agent of theirs was a user then that would be career over for Penber," Raito pointed out. "And Jeevas knew. And now Jeevas is dead – convenient, isn't it?"

"My thoughts exactly," L replied, an ounce of emotion – approval perhaps – creeping into his voice.

There was a further awkward pause.

"Near's been able to determine that Keehl also visited Jeevas the day he died."

"Oh, so he was the gardener then?" Raito twigged.

"Precisely." L's tone was definitely warmer.

"L, you think – and I agree with you – that Jeevas was murdered."

"No." No hesitation. "I am uncertain. It is still sixty nine point three percent likely to be a suicide, considering the facts." How he came up with these numbers Raito had no idea. "And I am unsure as to whether the two deaths are linked, and whether there is only one killer."

"Hmmm," Raito chewed on his finger. "What if Matt did Misa in (like Mello said), and then Mello took revenge?"

L was silent.

Raito took this as disapproval. "Forget it, it was a dumb idea," he backtracked furiously, again sounding like a giddy schoolgirl. "I'll see you soon, I hope. But I guess you'll have to come here, as I don't know if I'll be getting out."

"It is _not_ a dumb idea. I had not truly considered it. _When_ Raito-kun _does_ get out…" L stressed. "I was wondering whether Raito-kun would consider having dinner with me."

Raito blinked. "Sure, yeah, great! But, you know," he added, refusing to completely humiliate himself in front of his crush (_crush_!). "Get cracking or I'll be fifty by the time I'm out of here. If I'm lucky." He swiftly hung up.

_Yes!_

* * *

L had barely stopped talking to Raito when Near's call came through.

"What?" Near's sentence blew the happy smile talking to Raito had brought right away.

"You're sure?"

Near sounded an affirmative.

"Bring him in immediately. I want to do this face to face."

* * *

"So how are we getting to London?" Mello asked, reappearing. Near took in the blonde's altered appearance. He looked attractive but not outrageous and certainly less like a train wreck in black skinny jeans and short sleeved shirt.

"L's sending a car. It should be here soon." Near hated himself a little bit for the almost-lie. The blonde was looking happier now, or at least more peaceful. And a lot prettier.

(Did he really think that?)

Near heard a car pull up. "Ready to go?" he asked the blonde with false enthusiasm.

Mello nodded. A sharp rap on the door, which was opened to admit a man in a policeman's uniform. And a police car parked outside (on double yellow lines, which amused the albino very slightly).

"Rester," Near greeted him

The policeman, tall and greying with an almost regal demeanour nodded once at the albino, before focusing on the frowning blonde.

"Mello Keehl, I'm taking you in for questioning."

Near refused to look at Mello. It mattered nothing anyway. After all, Near reminded himself, the blond was one hell of an actor.

* * *

"Mr Keehl do calm down we are not arresting you, not yet at least," L said tersely via his computer. The distorted voice did nothing to hide the frustration in his every word. "We simply want to ask you some more questions

"Fuck this!" Keehl shouted. His face had turned all red and blotchy and Near realised that nothing short of blindness could make one consider Mello pretty at this moment in time.

(Near was watching this via vidscreen as he was in the lab analysing the bit of paper he'd found in the fire. He was actually dripping at this point. Mello had not taken kindly to being 'betrayed', and had taken his revenge once Rester had asked him if he'd like some water. Which he'd subsequently thrown at L's reticent assistant.)

(The diminutive albino was wondering whether having water chucked at you counted as assault with a blunt object, He was pretty sure he could do the blonde for battery (4) though, either way).

"Mello, shut up," L tried again.

It worked.

L smiled thinly. "Now, I will ask you again, what was the purpose of your visit to Mr Jeevas on the morning of his death?"

Mello looked sulky. "What's it matter, I've told you he was already dead. Besides, you know we were fucking like rabbits, why shouldn't I have gone to see him for a quick screw?"

If L was upset by this appalling massacre of his mother tongue he didn't show it. "Because we have a letter written from Mr Jeevas to you that was sent...

"You have no bloody idea what was in that envelope. So Matt sent me something by post, big deal, could have been tickets to Arsenal's (5) next match for all you know, and for all I'm telling you."

L simply cut the line and exhaled slowly, dispassionately watching Mello rant (on mute) for a few minutes. The blonde was not being especially cooperative. Thank God he was L and had worked it all out mostly.

"Near, please assemble those involved in the case and have them meet in the Jeevases' Winchester house tomorrow at 5pm. Inform them that their presence is required and failure to arrive will result in a charge of obstruction of the cause of justice. Also try to attain a temporary release order for Raito Yagami."

"L, should I understand from this that..."

"Yes, I am ninety four percent certain that I've solved this case."

* * *

Near surreptitiously watched the blonde out of the corner of his eye as they were driven (again by Rester) to a hotel where Mello could stay the night. The blonde had refused point blank to remain in L's accommodation (or 'cell' as he undiplomatically put it). Near was just grateful the other man was currently being quiet, just staring sullenly out the car's window at the lights of London.

"Are you....all right?" Near asked, hesitantly, and so softly that Mello could have quite legitimately ignored it. There was a long pause, so Near – unsurprised – determined Mello wasn't interested in any chit chat that didn't involve shrieking.

"I'll live." The reply – such as it was – was even softer.

Near smiled slightly, and laid a warm, impulsive hand on the sleeve of the blonde's soft black jumper (6)

He was surprised when Mello let him keep it there.

* * *

AN: VOTE IN THE POLL!!! WHODUNNIT?! (Remember, two killers is a possible solution and it will even let you vote for two if you want – how clever is that? I've made it blind though. Don't want people being influenced). I've never done a poll before so this makes it DOUBLY EXCITING!!!!

THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE GRAND REVELLATION!!!

Thanks again to: LIN and freefall gypsy (you both served to kick start my lazy ass into something resembling action), amainage (who reviewed 4 times which was wonderful), lovelyduckling80 (who wins the award for funniest review!), Andaliia, ., Rin5o, SakuraCa, Black-Dranzer-1119, darknecromancer666, koyuki-san, Autumn Whispers, The Sacred Pandapuff, Gabi Howard, kaesaku, Barranca, chrono-contact, redfoxrose, berkie88, and Paon! It seriously does motivate me, because if I think no one cares there's no point.

Not sure when next update will be, but it will be less than a year. Hopefully it will be out before Easter. Sorry if this is appalling. At one point I lost my notes and the story took on a life of its own at one point and had to be bullied back into something resembling submission. It did make it more exciting though.

If I'm honest I really don't like this chapter at all. Well, no I quite like Rem as Mello and Misa's grandmother – that part was fun to write. But please be as unkind as you wish. Also if you are a pharmacology expert please let me know if I'm talking sense and tell me if I'm not. If I ever rewrite this with my own characters I'll probably amend the whole Raye thing. The biggest problem I have with it is how Raye's managed to hide his addiction from everyone for years potentially, particularly if he's IVing (hence track marks). At a guess I'd say Raye was probably on morphine. It's less positively reinforcing than heroin so that'd probably help. Then again, if 'Silent Witness' can talk about a patient choking to death on their own blood despite no blood being found in their trachea or bronchi in all seriousness then surely I'm allowed an inconsistency or two.

I feel I should apologise for something in an earlier chapter. It said that Mikami was investigating a charge of criminal negligence against Matt. However, due to a law lecture I had about a week ago (despite the fact I'm not a law student) I've learnt that negligence is not a crime, it's a Tort. From what I can work out Tort means something that's not a crime but still illegal and people can sue you for it. Basically ignore the word criminal and I think you're ok. Just thought I should mention it.

(1) Tetley – a brand of tea.

(2) Security Services = MI5 (i.e. domestic security), where as Secret Service = MI6 (international). I think. Correct me if I'm wrong

(3) Drugs are present in hair for far longer than they are in blood or urine

(4) Battery – unconsented touching.

(5) Arsenal – football (soccer) team

(6) Jumper – Sweater

PS: The most observant of you will notice that I've changed my pen name from Charli-san to See Sell. Why? Well, I was Charli-san since I started on when I was 11 and now I'm nearly 20 (oh god), so I just thought I needed a change. Also I just like See Sell better. Anyway REVIEW!! Xx


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